


The Introverted Kitten's First Date

by SpiritBloodDragon



Series: The (Aspiring) Little Giant and the Introverted Kitten [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Cuddles, Cute, Established Relationship, First Date, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hinata Shouyou is Sunshine, Hugs, Kenma is simultaneously super smooth and super awkward, Kisses, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, Kuroo's a genius, Love, M/M, Scheming, Teen Romance, Tokyo Tower, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, awkward love, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24928636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritBloodDragon/pseuds/SpiritBloodDragon
Summary: Kenma and Hinata have been dating for a few months. They've confessed after an elaborate plan, spent a spring break together where they were both sick, and have even maintained a long-distance relationship through extremely cheesy texts.However, Kenma can't help but think about one thing: They haven't even gone on a date yet.When Kuroo finds out, he enlists the help of a crow, an owl, and the Grand King as the training camp is coming up.This, to Kuroo, will be the acme of his plans to help his best friend get with the epitome of Sunshine.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Referenced Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: The (Aspiring) Little Giant and the Introverted Kitten [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1783936
Comments: 6
Kudos: 78





	1. Ask, Avarice, Adjust

"Oy, Kenma, when's the last time you saw Chibi-Chan?" Kuroo interrogated absentmindedly, tying his shoes. It was quite the mundane day, nothing really happening.

"Oh. I think it was just last night when we facetimed," Kenma explained. "Just talked a little bit about our day." There was a morsel of joy in his tone while he muttered, causing Kuroo to quirk an eyebrow.

As the two friends were the only ones left in the changing room, with the bombast of Inuoka and Lev backed up by the restive tone of Yamamoto in the background, they frequently chattered with little between them, and this was usually when they spent a bit more time together other than the few times Kenma had reluctantly agreed to hanging out during times other than school.

"You know, you used to be really obdurate," Kuroo observed, standing up and patting some sort of thing off of his shorts; what they were, however, was unknown to Kenma. "Unfeeling, by the way."

"I know what it means," Kenma sighed, brushing a little hair out of his face. "I've had to deal with your unusual vocabulary my whole life."

"Unusual?" Kuroo gasped under the pretense of being offended. "My Dearest Kenma, how could you say such a thing to your best friend?"

"You've heard worse. Now, come on," Kenma swiftly transitioned, standing up himself. "We gotta practice."

"Since when have you been into practice?" Kuroo questioned, following his shorter friend. "Last time I checked, you'd been actively avoiding practice in favor of fervently playing those old-fashioned videogames."

"God, Kuroo, just cause you use vocabulary that sounds like you write with a quill in the 1700's doesn't mean you have to act like one," Kenma quipped, though there seemed to be a little bit of frustration in his tone.

Kuroo was genuinely curious this time around as he spoke with a little more concern, "Something wrong, Kenma? You seem tense."

"Oh, really?" Kenma snapped, furrowing his eyebrows, before realizing his sudden change in tone. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be like that."

Kuroo simply brushed it off, having been accustomed to the emotional constipation in terms of social interaction that Kenma could sometimes display, "It's fine. You need to talk about it?"

"No, it's fine...Lev's just been frustrating me," Kenma dismissed quietly, walking onto the court in his normal reserved, observant manner. "Not much else."

"Sounds like something else, if you ask me," Kuroo muttered. "Something wrong with Chibi-Chan? After all, a whole week of you two being together ruined after being sick seems like it'd annoy you."

Kenma blinked, turning to Kuroo a little bit. He was a little bit surprised that he had been able to read him so easily, though with how he genuinely trusted him to the point where he had opened up to it, he shrugged, understanding.

"I...I guess," he whispered, his eyes darting between Kuroo and the floor. "I just feel like...I haven't really done too much. I mean, I haven't even gone on a date with him."

"Ooh," Kuroo smirked. "So you're trying to get a date with Chibi-Chan? D'ya need help from your resident romance guru?"

"You had one crush and she broke up with you in first grade."

"Rude!" Kuroo scoffed, a lighthearted laugh following it. "Seriously, though, have you brought it up with Hinata? I'm certain he'd be dying to go out with you. There's no way he hasn't realized it also. Who knows? Maybe he's talking about this with Kageyama as we speak."

"There's no way. Now, could you stop getting into my relationship?" Kenma requested. "You know what's wrong, and I don't think you should have to shoulder the burden of my love troubles."

"Au contraire, Kenma. After all, who'd came up with the idea of getting you together in a way that worked, anyways?" Kuroo retorted furtively, putting a hand on his hip as they got to the court to stretch.

"Hey, Shou was the one who'd confessed to me."

"He was? I thought you did."

"Oh, while I was sick, Shou told me all about the plan that Karasuno'd come up with to get us together. Turns out, it was practically identical to ours, but Shou was supposed to confess," Kenma shrugged. "Now, can we get back to practice?"

"So he got the jump on you," Kuroo observed, causing Kenma to blush a little bit. "Oh, is there something that made you think of?"

"N-No," Kenma stuttered, but it was clear he was thinking about him and Shouyou cuddling. Kuroo could see it easily in his eyes.

"Fine, fine, I'll drop it," Kuroo chuckled. Little did Kenma know that that was the exact opposite of what he meant.

Kuroo had swiftly come up with a plan, involving a familiar owl, crow, and a pretty boy most would know as the Grand King.

This, to Kuroo, would be his absolute best work yet. In terms of his plans, this would be the acme of all he's done as a best friend.

~~~

"Coach! You know how Karasuno usually comes to our summer training camp?" I call out, a smirk on my face. He raises an eyebrow, and I can tell he knows that I've come up with a scheme. Usually, he humors me on it. I like to think it's quite the honor.

"Yes, I recall. Why?" He smiles in return, his smile wholeheartedly decorous and displaying forbearance. "Actually, get to the point already. You wouldn't bring it up unless you had a plan with you."

"Well, Kenma --" I begin, yet Coach interrupts me with sudden caprice.

"Hold it right there. Does this have to do with his relationship with that little middle blocker?" I nod, and his tone becomes more fervent. "Then what's your plan?"

I'd consider myself a prodigy when it came to swinging people to agree with me without my intentions being found out, my plans practically a textbook example of novel.

I still can't shake the inkling within me which whispers with the subtlety of the breeze that says that Coach has been scheming with far more thought and planning than I ever have.

"So you found out already?"

"Your smirk gives it away," he chuckles to my admittedly prideful chagrin, humbling me. "Lemme guess. You're trying to get another team in so you can push those two further together?"

"Yep," I nod, matching his conspiratorial smirk. "Aoba Johsai. I trust you already know about Oikawa?"

"Yeah, that shrimp won't shut up sometimes about the 'Grand King,' as he calls him. Supposedly he's the best setter in Miyagi's prefecture, even better than Kageyama."

I stretch a little, cracking my knuckles, "Exactly that. Not only is he a setter most would consider the pinnacle of setting, meaning Hinata unequivocally adores him, but he's super flirtatious. A pretty boy, if you will."

"So you think he can help push those to do...what, exactly?"

"They haven't even gone on a date yet. I think, since the team's original plan involved the Tokyo Tower, we could pull it into this one. It'd be a hell of a blast for Kenma to bring Hinata to Shrimpy's very first visit to Tokyo Tower, don't you think?" I suggest, quirking an eyebrow while leaning on the wall. Damn, I'm good.

I didn't even think of that before I came in here, but it's a suggestion only a polymath could come up...no, I'm mixing that up with a savant.

Either way, doesn't matter, cause I know that I've already convinced Coach to get on board with the plan. Now, I only needed to convince Oikawa, Bokuto, and Sawamura. I know that Bokuto would easily get on board with the plan, but maintaining him would be near impossible with how rambunctious he could be at times.

Sawamura would be difficult to pacify, though he would definitely accept the offer given the chance to help his underclassmen given it wouldn't harm their playing volleyball. Personally, I think it'd be better for Karasuno and hurt our team in future games, since Kenma's easier to distract from volleyball than Hinata. He'd be swooning over him mid-game while Chibi-chan's still hyped up, and that's not good.

But if you ask me? I'd probably still prioritize Kenma enjoying himself over a rivalry between our teams. Besides, if we still win, that'd be even better to rub it in their face. Wonder how Kenma'd tease Hinata over it.

The toughest one? Probably Oikawa.

But I did hear that him and Kageyama are making amends. Quite surprising, given their history as setters. They're definitely not friends, to put it lightly, though I think Kageyama may be able to help me convince Oikawa to get his team over here for the training camp.

Under the pretense of just getting stronger, there's no way Oikawa wouldn't be chomping at the bit to put in more effort and work hard to improve. That's just the type of guy he is, according to Sugawara.

Now, why choose these three? It's not like they've got the best ideas.

And that's exactly why. They may not have the best ideas on their own, but with the wide range of roles we could play and influence both Hinata and Kenma, I'd be able to work any problem out. Bokuto's got the most influence on Hinata, Sawamura and I have experience with helping Kenma out (don't ask how Daichi helped. I'm a bit jealous Kenma went to him for advice and not me), and Oikawa's probably dated a ton of people already.

"You're really pushing with this, aren't you? It's a bit selfish. Greedy, even."

"Coach, you've got something better than that. Avarice is the word to use, and I'm proud of it."

~~~

"Hey, hey, hey! What's up, Kuroo?!" I greet over the phone, holding my phone up to my ear. I don't really care that I'm sweaty, you know? Sure, it's practice, but who cares! We're on break!

"Sup, Bokuto. You know that little Shrimpy, right?" He instantly questions, and I raise an eyebrow, a little confused. Why'd he bring up Hinata of all people? Did something happen to him?

"Yep, he's my favorite student. Why you askin'?" I prompt, leaning against the wall. Sadly enough, Akaashi isn't there to toss me a bottle of water, so I guess I'll have to just get it myself afterwards.

"So, you know Kenma also, right?" Kuroo continues, and I can tell his tone is a little more...what's the word? Interrogamo? Interaction? Interrogation? Interrogative! That's it.

Who's Kenma again?

Oh, wait!

"Uh...he's the setter on your team, right? Kozume?" I tilt my head, even though he can't really see it. "What about him?"

"Well, Bokuto, friend," I hear the slyness in his tone; that's one of the weirder things about him, he almost seemed like he was scheming even though he'd never brought up a single plan to me, "Kenma and your favorite student..." He had a little bit of a suspicious tone, like he was buttering me up.

"They're dating."

Oh. Ah. Well, then.

I'm composed. I'm the ace. I'm the pillar. I...I am tough. Definitely.

Just cause he's dating someone doesn't mean it's a cause for alarm. He's a mature first-year. Independent, kind, loyal, passionate.

And I am okay with this. 

"Bokuto, why are you sobbing your heart out?"

"Akaashi, this isn't the time! My...MY STUDENT HAS GROWN UP!" I fall onto my knees, crying out to the Lord himself. "Why must time be such a cruel mistress?!"

"I didn't even know you knew what 'mistress' meant. I'm impressed," I hear Akaashi remark dryly.

"This isn't the time! Hinata's dating Kenma and he's grown up so much!" I muster up the courage to repeat, sending a glare to my phone when I hear Kuroo snicker on the other end, even though he can't see it. There's a little bit of surprise on Akaashi's face, but an amused smile. Weird. I don't think I've ever seen Akaashi smile before.

_ Unfortunately, Bokuto and Kuroo had not realized the sneezing flurry released from the owl's student. _

_ "God, Boke, are you sick again?" Kageyama lectures. "I thought you took the time to rest up already!" _

"You want your student to be happy, right?" I hear Kuroo suggest. "I think giving him some dating advice would be pretty helpful. Speaking of, the training camp is coming up, right?"

I gasp, my tears instantly stopping, "You're right! What sort of role model would I be for him if I can't give him some dating advice?" I slap a hand onto my head, instantly ignoring the stinging pain on my forehead.

"You better come up with something. If I remember correctly, or if Kenma's telling the full truth, they haven't even had their first date yet. We gotta talk about it. What if their first date goes horribly and Hinata becomes unmotivated?"

"Bokuto, you haven't even dated anyone," Akaashi reminds me with a light sigh. He's right. I've never really dated anyone, and I don't really have any idea what dating is like or what to say.

No! A piece of sunshine like that shouldn't be allowed to be sad! He's barely been in a relationship! They've probably been dating for like what, a week? I have to help him!

"You gotta tell me all about it! We gotta talk! Get someone else in this, like Sawamura or something! I gotta make sure their first date goes perfectly!"

~~~

"Kuroo. Why is Bokuto texting me about whether or not I could convince you to ask Coach to make the training camp sooner?" I narrow my eyes, a little suspicious. As he turns around to face me, there's a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Huh? Oh, that. He's been begging me all day about it too," Kuroo sighs. "He's even called me and sent me like a ton of voicemails." He holds out his phone to me, pulling up a call that the two of them had.

He mutters to himself about finding the right time until he gets to the point where, I guess, he just somehow remembers perfectly, holding the phone closer to me.

"Why must time be such a cruel mistress?!" I hear Bokuto cry out, probably to some sort of deity or something. Maybe he's invoking the word of Akaashi or something? Who knows.

I blink, cringing a little bit, "That's a bit...excessive. How do you even know people so into volleyball where they cry out like that?"

"Hey, you're the one dating someone exactly like that."

That....that isn't entirely wrong. But I don't wanna admit that I'm wrong. There's probably a really sour expression on my face right now as I whisper, "Hey, you're right, but at least he isn't this dramatic about it."

"Are you sure about that?"

No, no I am not. Not in the slightest.

"Oh, by the way, Kenma," Kenma continues, snapping me out of zoning out. "Any closer to asking Hinata on a date?" I shake my head.

"Kuroo, I thought I asked you to stop getting into my love life. I don't want something weird to happen like last time where Nekoma and Karasuno made the exact same plan."

"Oh, love life? So you love him?"

I blush, gulping before whispering, "Y-Yeah. I've told him that I love him, t-too."

He fondly smiles, before a teasing smirk muddles the wholesome appearance that Kuroo had for what felt like a nanosecond, "Wow, and you haven't even gone on a real date yet? Man, young love really speeds by nowadays."

"Yep. That confirms it. You're like 500 years old."

"Wow, don't have to be so rude about it, Kenma," Kuroo rolls his eyes, though I remain apathetic about it.

Honestly, I'm thinking of asking him out to the Tokyo Tower. He hasn't been there yet, has he? Plus, since training camp's coming up, I can definitely just pull him away for a few hours to head there. I'd love that.

"Oh, did you hear? Apparently Chibi-Chan's failing English right now."

Of course he is. I sigh, "Sometimes I wish he could actually study."

"Why don't you teach him over the phone or something, Kenma? Or are you too obsessed with him to think about something else when you talk?" Kuroo suggests, wiggling his eyebrows.

"H-Hey, that's not it," I deny. "I...I just get frustrated sometimes because he keeps going into these tangents and stories about something vaguely related to it that happened like 6 years ago."

"You find it cute, though, don't you?"

I do.

"Hey, Kuroo?" I ask absentmindedly, not even realizing that I'm about to ask him this until it's too late.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I should take him out to the Tokyo Tower?" I wonder out loud, more to myself than to him. I hear him snicker, but I can't help but smile lightly. Maybe Kuroo could be a bit of a help after all.

Doesn't mean him helping's gonna be fun, though.

Maybe it is, though.

"Do you have any idea how much he'll like that? What do you think?" Kuroo teases, ruffling my hair. I tense up a little bit before settling down. I'm used to him ruffling my hair, but I don't really enjoy it. I'm sort of apathetic to his touching at this point, because it never goes past hugging (which rarely happens as is), and that's fine with me.

"Jeez, you could've just said yes," I smile softly while rolling my eyes, redirecting my attention back to my phone. Shouyou had been spamming me for the past 30 minutes since I ended school half an hour later than him, despite the fact that our practices ran for less time than his. It was pretty clearly shown by some of his messages being cut off with a scramble of letters or random interruptions saying that Kageyama's yelling at him.

Honestly, a bunch of his texts were really, really adorable, and I couldn't help but smile and blush a little bit at some of his texts. I'd say about 60% of them were just random thoughts, and then the rest of them were filled up with other things. Compliments about me, which I couldn't help but feel a weird feeling in my abdomen from, followed by telling me how much he misses me, where I completely agree, cause I hate to admit it, but I really miss cuddling him. And lastly, his very, very precious attempts at flirting with me.

A lot of it is filled with weird sound effects he'd use in real life like 'Gwah' and 'Fwoosh' and all that. To be honest, whenever he does that, sometimes I respond using the same sound effects.

"Kuroo?"

"Yeah?" He hums, staring off into the distance. He's probably thinking about something. Maybe someone. He probably has a crush on what's his face again, the blond who always teases Hinata. No, not me. Tsukishima, I think. Weird, but I feel like it'll work out eventually if Tsukishima can survive Kuroo long enough.

God, how had I even survived him this long?

Well, I guess it's besides the point right now.

"Thanks, by the way," I blush a little as my mind goes off into somewhere. "For getting me and Shou together. I'm really happy with him."

"Wow, Kenma expressing how he feels? What's next, you fuck him?"

I blink.

"I have never thought you could ruin a conversation worse than when you tried to talk to my mom about how you were my friend, but there's a first time for everything."

"I'll admit, that was not the most tasteful of jokes I've made."

"You just made me want to lose my sense of taste if you're going to continue making jokes."

"I am a comedian!" He scoffs, playfully offended. "Besides, am I wrong?"

I blush heavily. And I mean heavily.

I think Shou's hot. That's not wrong to do, right? Think your boyfriend is hot?

But he's so innocent...he probably doesn't even know what sexual attraction is. I'll deal with that another day. I should probably take him out on a date before we do...anything like that, right?

_ Unbeknownst to neither Kenma nor Kuroo, a familiar orange-haired middle blocker had gone through a flurry of sneezes within, what felt to him, 30 seconds. _

_ "Hinata," Nishinoya furrows his eyebrows. "Are you sure you rested up properly?" _

"You definitely just thought he was hot, didn't you?"

"Oh, shut up."

~~~

"Kuroo, what do you want?" I hear Tsukishima sigh as he picks up the phone. "For the last time, stop calling me Tsukki."

Honestly, since this was practice, I'd normally just lecture him for a few seconds and tell him to drop the phone. But Kuroo didn't call that often, at least he didn't call us often. And when he did call us, something was definitely up. There was a ruse at hand, and I wasn't going to handle it one bit.

"Daichi, you good?" Sugawara fights a snicker back. "I've never seen you so on guard when literally nothing is going on. We're on a water break, if you haven't noticed."

"Hey, maybe he's channeling his inner Kageyama. Remember that time at the previous training camp?" Asahi jokes, and at that, I can't really help but crack a smile with an eyeroll as I lightly shove Asahi.

"Laugh it up," I chuckle lightly before I notice Tsukishima walk up to me. "What is it?"

Wordlessly, Tsukishima holds the phone up to me to show Kuroo's name on there, this time on speaker. Why he decided to put it on speaker was unknown to me as I take it back to the normal sound and hold the phone up to my ear.

"What do you want?" I sigh, already fed up with the prospect of having to deal with Nekoma's captain.

"Kuroo, are you seriously calling Tsukishima? Can you not get enough of him?" I hear Kenma speak in the background, and I blink.

He gulps, "Kenma! It's on speaker!" I've never heard him so caught off guard before. Usually, he's always prepared for some sort of snide or witty remark.

And that's when it finally registers what's going on.

"I swear, Kuroo, you really just messed up. Say something stupid enough, and I will tell the rest of the team, especially him," I instantly turn the tide, causing Tanaka to snicker a bit, Kiyoko to have a confused smile on her face, and Sugawara to nearly wheeze.

"Oh my god, you look like a chipmunk right now!"

"A baboon, Tanaka!" Sugawara insists.

"Are you sure he doesn't look like Kageyama when he doesn't drink enough milk?"

Gasps were heard, "Kiyoko-san made fun of someone!"

"All of you, shush," I glare at them, though there's no weight to the glare as I focus back on the call.

"So, what are you talking about?" I ask, though it seems there's no answer.

"Oh, sorry," I hear Kenma speak quietly; it's a nice contrast from the probably constantly sneering tone that Kuroo has, that asshole with his literal existence probably revolving around annoying me. "Kuroo went to the bathroom. I didn't mean to spill that he's interested in Tsukishima. If it's not too much to ask, could you not tell him? It'd just make Kuroo whine and bitch a ton if he's worried about it."

"Uh..." I don't really know how to react. I haven't heard Kozume use any form of what would be considered impolite language before, so that's new. Secondly, the actual confirmation that Kuroo's interested in Tsukishima is weird in itself.

"Sure...you can tell him that yourself."

I hear some noise in the background, _Tsukki, are you sick? You keep sneezing!_

_ Nah, it's fine, Yamaguchi. Guess something just came over me. _

"Ok..." I can tell there's something on his mind "Sawamura-san? You know how I asked you how to apologize to Shou for having to take care of me while I was sick?"

Oh, great. Some more dating advice from the man not in a relationship.

"Yeah..." I keep going, urging him to spill already.

"I need a bit more advice," he admits. "Do you think the Tokyo Tower would be a good place to date Shou out on a first date? I asked Kuroo and he just resorted to teasing me."

I blink, "Uh. Sure, I guess. Is there anything else you needed?"

"No. Thank you, Sawamura-san."

Okay, I'm definitely glad Hinata's not with someone as crazy as he is. Otherwise it'd be much more difficult to manage.

As I hear the call end, I toss the phone back to Tsukishima, who swiftly catches it.

In an instant, our water break continues with the second and third-years bantering amongst themselves about my appearance, and the first-years excluding Kageyama going back to practice. That's weird. I thought Kageyama would be leaping up and down to get to the court.

~~~

"Iwa-Chan~! Who are you texting?!" Oikawa cheerfully greeted as he slung a shoulder around Iwaizumi, who wasn't expecting the sudden touch and grunted as he braced.

"Kageyama. Apparently he's asking if we're really coming to that volleyball training camp," Iwaizumi shrugged. "I mean, Kuroo from Nekoma wouldn't stop insisting, but it would be a great opportunity to go against some more powerhouse schools. Besides, we'd be going against Karasuno a bunch."

Oikawa cringed at that, a sour expression befitting the stark transition in his mood.

"Ewwww! Iwa-Chan~! Do we really have to?!" Oikawa complained, pouting.

"Stop complaining, Shittykawa. Don't you want to keep practicing?" Iwaizumi responded as he always did when Oikawa acted childish. Switching over to this sort of behavior was practically instinct for the teen who'd dealt with this the past few years.

"Yeah, but why do I have to play with Tobio-chan?! It's not gonna be fun!" Oikawa practically cried, falling onto his good knee. "Do we really have to go?!" In true honesty, he didn't really care about having to play with Kageyama, but rather the lowered stakes. He preferred playing against him where the stakes were highest, and practice matches simply couldn't simulate that sort of life-on-the-line feeling.

Before Iwaizumi can answer his question, Oikawa's phone rang. As it effectively interrupted the emotional downpour being rained onto Iwaizumi, he couldn't help but be grateful to his digital savior.

"Who is it?" He raised an eyebrow, plopping himself onto the bench nearest to the restroom. As he sighed, he felt a little curious, seeing something akin to confusion manifest on Oikawa's face, his countenance all sorts of jumbled up. It was like he was trying to choose his emotion at the time, at least to Iwaizumi.

For Oikawa, he couldn't help but wonder what to feel towards the man calling him. With how little they'd interacted in the past, it was an unknown variable to the setter as to why he'd call him in the first place.

"Uh, hi, this is Oikawa from Aoba Johsai," he introduced himself on speaker, glancing at Iwaizumi every now and then. _Why would Kuroo from Nekoma be calling me if he's mainly interacting with Coach?_

"Yo, Oikawa, it's me. Got something to ask about you real quick," Kuroo quickly got to the point as he didn't want to fail his task quickly, somewhat catching the setter off guard.

_Wow, Oikawa not knowing what to do? That's a first. Maybe Kuroo isn't so bad after all,_ Iwaizumi mused silently, seeing the new form of confusion setting onto Oikawa's face.

"You remember Chibi-chan? Hinata?" Instantly, annoyance came onto Oikawa as he was quickly reminded of the loss that his team suffered against Hinata and Tobio.

"Yeah...why?" Despite his annoyance, he still held a calm exterior as he continued the conversation, wanting to know where he was leading with this.

"So, there's this kid on Nekoma's team. Second year named Kozume. My best friend," Kuroo explained, and Iwaizumi felt a twinge of impatience.

"Get to it already. What's the connection we're supposed to make?" Iwaizumi interrupted, snatching the phone from Oikawa who made a distressed cry at the sudden theft.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm obfuscating. Lemme be real: Hinata's dating him. In short, I know Oikawa's probably the most experienced when it comes to relationships and I was hoping he could help me encourage Kozume because they haven't even had their first date yet."

"Uh...Iwa-chan, what does obfuscating mean?" Oikawa whispered, somewhat confused.

"Being vague," Kuroo quickly explained, as if it was routine. "Sorry, I'm trying to get out of vocabulary I keep seeing in my textbooks. Anyways, can you help or not?"

"And why would I do that?" Oikawa pointed out. "I have nothing to gain from this, and it's not like I have the best relationship with Hinata in the first place."

"Think about it. Chibi-chan and Kozume are practically obsessed with each other. I'll send you a text that Kageyama sent me asking Kozume to stop texting Hinata because it was interrupting their practice."

"Okay, now I know you're bullshitting me. There's no way that Shrimpy would ever stop practicing to text someone," Oikawa denied, ending the call. However, he was quickly proven wrong as he got a text notification with a picture attached.

Iwaizumi, however, was extremely amused at the scene that played in front of him next. After quickly reading the text thread sent, Oikawa seemed to go through the five stages of grief faster than what seemed humanly possible.

He had never seen Oikawa call someone so frantically to keep the conversation going, insisting that it would be best for Aoba Johsai if Hinata wasn't practicing so they could beat Tobio again.

Unbeknownst to them, Kuroo's plan was working perfectly.

He'd thrown Kenma off his trail with Bokuto, convinced Bokuto and Oikawa to help, and it seemed like Sawamura was already helping Kenma with advice. Luckily, he would be there to help Hinata alongside Bokuto, and it was pretty certain Oikawa would insist on helping Kenma.

There was only one thought in his head as he ended the second call with Oikawa.

_ Oh yeah. It's all coming together. _


	2. Hinata=Huggable (At least to Kenma). Kenma=Kissable (At least to Hinata).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> ~~~ Signals a perspective change.
> 
> /// Signals a time change!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (also imagine drafting and editing instead of just blasting whatever you think onto the keyboard couldn't be me (^~^) )

"I gotta say, Hinata, never thought you'd make it!" Tanaka slung an elbow around Hinata's shoulder, causing the rest of the team to smile in agreement. It was something they'd never thought possible. Something rare. Something new. Something only he and Kageyama had yet to experience.

Until now, that is.

"Thanks! I studied really hard, so I'm glad I passed!"

Yes.

That is what had happened.

Hinata Shouyou did not need to take supplementary classes. No extra exams. No need to wait for Tanaka's sister. No need to study extra and stay after. Yes, he had in fact passed his classes. He, too, could enjoy the luxury of riding the team bus to the training camp instead of the smallest rollercoaster in the world.

As Kageyama mourned, the orange-haired boy couldn't help but tease, "Wow, Kageyama. Does this mean I'm smarter than you? Can I call you a dumbass now?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes, a salty smirk on his face as he whirled around with the most bullshit-esque look on his face that anyone had ever seen. He shook his head, instantly denying the possibility by calling Hinata a dumbass once more.

 _Wow, I thought it'd go somewhere. Well, that's on me, I guess,_ Hinata mused, a soft smile on his face as he started packing his bags. They'd already started packing to head onto the bus, with Kageyama practically catatonic. He'd never felt so...helpless in his entire life. There was nothing within him remaining.

Not only was he the only one to fail, he was also the only one who was held back from playing volleyball until he could pass. And this time, there would be nobody to compete with to see who could finish their exams and pass first. There would be no motivation, nobody to keep pushing him.

And he hated it.

"God, Kageyama, aren't you making this too much of a big deal? I know that Hinata's your volleyball partner, but you don't have to compete for everything," Nishinoya assured, tossing on his jacket. It was a few hours until they got to the gym they were practicing at, and he knew that where he'd be sitting, the A.C would be blasting full power. It wasn't fun, having assigned seats on the bus at times.

Of course, by assigned seats, it simply meant the seats where everyone sat. They didn't really like change, and on the bus, who did? Everyone went to their respective areas, and to Karasuno, that applied to the bus quite strongly. There was no deviation in the way they set their bags, no change in the way they sat, hell, not even a change in how they slept at times.

"Well, see you, Kageyama!" Hinata cheered as he leapt outside of the door, practically doing splits in the air with a bright grin on his face. Everyone noticed that he was even more bubbly and sociable, even Tsukishima, who eventually caved in and communicated with him, though he held back his chagrin at the whole matter.

"So, Shouyou," Tanaka rested an elbow on the middle blocker's shoulder. "Can't wait to see your boyfriend?"

"Mhm!" Hinata nodded excitedly, and the bald teen could swear he saw his Kouhai bouncing at the thought. "I wanna ask him out to the Tokyo Tower since we haven't gone on a date yet!"

"What's this I hear? You haven't even gone on a date with Kozume yet?" Nishinoya piped up, joining the conversation instantly as soon as he heard the minute struggle. "Well, Tanaka and I have you covered if you're going on a date! Money, advice, all of it!"

"A-Are you sure?" Hinata apprehensively brought up, attempting to confirm what he said. "I-I don't wanna seem like a mooch, you know? I don't wanna feel like I owe you anything, Nishinoya-senpai and Tanaka-Senpai..." There wasn't a sort of sudden downcast in his voice, though the shyness did confirm his hesitation. He just wanted to make sure it was okay with them, like he wasn't burdening them with this.

"Absolutely!" Tanaka smirked, and it was the type of smirk that had that weird visual effect to show its shine. Both him and Nishinoya were riding the high of being addressed as true upperclassmen with affection and praise, and they took it in stride.

"T-Thank you!" Hinata stuttered out, but smiled gratefully anyways. He bowed to his senpais, to which their egos swelled to astronomical levels before Kiyoko-san humbled them simply by walking by.

After a few minutes in which they packed their bags into the back, sat down, and started driving, Hinata simply ignore the buzzing from his phone.

"Jeez," Tsukishima quipped. "Are you two so whipped for each other you can't even wait to see each other even though you're literally going to see him later today?"

"Uh..." Hinata blinked, staring at the phone. "It's not from Kenma. It's from Bokuto."

In an instant, Daichi tensed up and prepared for war, clenching his fists and nearly standing up to strike an imposing figure. Of course, this was then noticed by both Sugawara and Asahi, who, at light-speed, reacted with a barrage of remarks that the bulwark of Daichi's patience with his friends couldn't survive as Daichi joined the friendly banter that the three of them shared.

As Hinata answered the call, holding the phone up to his ear, he had never regretted any choice so badly in his life as the one he just made: holding the phone up to his ear.

"HEY HEY HEY!!!" Bokuto's voice drilled through the entire bus, shocking Coach Ukai who had been sitting in the front while Hinata was in the back.

"Hinata! If you're going to call someone, don't put it on speaker!" He quickly lectured, turning around to glare at the first-year. Hinata gulped, not knowing what to say.

"U-Uh, Coach? It...it isn't on speaker," he admitted, somewhat in disbelief himself. "That was just Bokuto normally."

Coach Ukai blinked, not knowing what to respond. He'd never heard somebody call anyone with that much noise, and he had an inkling of fear of what could happen if Hinata had put it on speaker. Could he go deaf? Would he have to wear hearing aids his whole life? Would they at least look nice?

These were questions that not just Coach Ukai, but the entire Karasuno team shared between them, including Hinata.

"U-Um, Bokuto-san? C-Could you be a little quieter? I think you're going to annoy my whole team..." Hinata quietly whispered, the quietest they'd heard Hinata ever since he got the offer to go to the park with Kenma when they confessed to each other.

"Then just don't put it on speaker!"

"Um...you aren't on speaker, Bokuto-san..."

Akaashi's voice suddenly interrupted, "Sorry, Hinata. Bokuto's just being really obnoxious." Instantly, there was a grunt, a groan of pain, and definitely the impact noise of being kicked in the shin.

"Akaashi, when are you going to support me?" Bokuto hissed, a tone of betrayal underlying his proud blasting. "Anyways, Hinata, I heard you and Kenma are dating?"

Hinata blinked, blushing a little bit. Luckily, Bokuto was quiet enough so nobody on the team was bombarded with multiple megaphones at once directly into their ears, so their conversation was simply limited to the two of them.

"Y-Yeah...how do you know?"

"Ah, Kuroo told me! And I heard that you two haven't gone on a date yet! Well, I propose you ask him to the Tokyo Tower! It's beautiful, high up, probably has a great view of the stars, and you and Kozume will have some alone time!" Bokuto's excited voice continued.

"W-Well, the thing is, I already planned to ask him out when I saw him again..." Hinata trailed off, not knowing how else to ask. "Do you have any other advice?" His tone was hopeful, and clearly in admiration of the third-year ace.

"I mean, we can talk about that when you get here, Hinata! Kuroo and I are gonna help you have the perfect date with Kenma! We're gonna make sure you act the best of who you are to get Kenma happy, since the Tokyo Tower's the perfect venue!" Bokuto insisted. "Promise! Well, I gotta go now! We got some practice to get to!" Right after that, he called after Akaashi, and promptly ended the call.

"Oy, Hinata!" Tanaka called out, scooting closer to the edge of his seat so he could talk a little bit more discreetly. "We gotta talk about your date."

"Yeah!" Nishinoya, equally excited, agreed. "So, here's the thing. We came up with a theory."

Hinata blinked, curious what their guesses were.

"So, we're assuming you two are gonna go to the Tokyo Tower or something, right?" Tanaka inquired, causing a soft nod. "Great!"

"What's so great about it?" Hinata asked, not even sure himself if his idea of a date was that great.

"Here's the thing. Kenma likes you, right?" Hinata nodded at the rhetorical question. "So, if you just act like yourself, act like you, Kenma's bound to like it, right?" He nodded again, even though he didn't fully grasp the concept being thrown in his face.

"That means that we gotta focus on the location! We already know you two are gonna go to the Tokyo Tower, because there is literally no way Kenma'd not be jumping at the bit to go on a date with you," Nishinoya explained, causing Hinata to blush heavily. It was still an extreme wonder to him that Kenma, of all people, would be the most willing to go on a date with him, the boy who Hinata actually did really like.

Tanaka built off, "Therefore, we can make sure that the timing is perfect, that some of the available food is perfect, and of course, what sort of super cute date would it be if you didn't end up on a hill to cuddle?!"

Unlike Kenma, Hinata was much more open to taking advice from his upperclassmen. Despite the fact that they were all inexperienced in romance, Hinata somehow having the most experience out of the three of them, he trusted them.

Besides, it wasn't like he could make up any better ideas that wouldn't involve him tripping over his own two feet constantly for Kenma. He knew he was completely head over heels for his Kitty, and he was gonna take all the help he could to be a competent boyfriend.

"We, your two greatest upperclassmen in the whole wide world," Nishinoya begun.

"Shall show you, our dearest Kouhai," Tanaka continued.

"How to have the best date ever!" Nishinoya finished, a toothy grin straight on his face.

~~~

"Jesus, Kenma, you don't have to stare at the door half of the time to wait for him to get here. You already know he's gonna be late for his supplementary exams," Kuroo teases, and I blush a little bit. It's true. I'd been waiting for him since it's been a whole month since I've seen him in person.

I sigh, though, because it's probably true, "Yeah, he probably got like ten points." I barely pay attention to our practice game, because I'd rather not hear the unusually loud screams of Bokuto. There's something about him that's even more excited, and I've not even seen a glimpse of his emo mode that Akaashi warned me about. I'm glad.

"Jeez, maybe you coulda dated someone who isn't an idiot?"

"Hey, that idiot's my boyfriend, and I happen to like him a lot even though he's an idiot."

"God, you're so whipped for Hinata," Kuroo teases again, and I blush a little more. I throw a warning punch at his arm, which he doesn't even bother to dodge. My punches aren't even that strong, anyways, since I don't even try to put force into it.

"Hey, guys?" Lev bursts into the door after getting a drink of water, "Karasuno's here!"

"Man, can't wait to see that your boyfriend's staying for exams, right?" Kuroo remarks, until we hear a familiar yell. 

"Hinata! I know you wanna see him, but wait up! You haven't even grabbed your stuff!" Tanaka called out, and I could've sworn that I heard skidding on the blacktop. My eyes widen a little bit, and I feel a little more anxious. I feel a little more twitchy. A lot more twitchy.

"Oh, you're right!" An embarrassed chuckle. "I'll grab that real quick!"

"Jeez," Yaku has an amused smile on his face. "Is there a single thing that they don't yell out for?" I gently smile at that. I don't think there is a single thing that they've ever been calm for. Even when Shou got hurt, they were all panicking. Or most of them, at least. Mainly Nishinoya and Tanaka.

"Time out," I hear Coach Nekomata call. I blink. Why? We're doing pretty well against Fukurodani, I think. I glance at the scoreboard.

Yep. We aren't winning, but we're only three points behind. There's definitely still a chance.

"C'mon, Kenma!" I hear Bokuto call out. "He obviously called a time-out for a reason, and it's not the game!" I blush a little bit. That's not a smart move.

"I know it's not a smart move, Kenma, but you aren't even playing at your best right now," Coach Nekomata quirks an eyebrow. "Are you?" I can tell the last part is rhetorical.

"W-Well, you didn't have to break the whole game for it..." I mumble under my breath, only for Kuroo to sigh behind me. It's clear he noticed I haven't taken a single step, and quickly grabs the back of the collar of my shirt.

"Kuroo, what are you doing?" I ask, sighing a little bit; this wasn't the first time Kuroo's done this by a long shot. In fact, he'd done it since the first month of us being friends, which was like a few years ago, I think.

"What do you think I'm doing, Luggage?" He smirks, calling me by the same name he'd always done when he carried me like this with one hand. Maybe I'm just light, but Kuroo's annoyingly strong when he wants to display it.

I realize our destination and I instantly start squirming, "Kuroo, put me down." I tried wriggling out of his grasp, or just wiggling enough for him to lose his grip, but neither of those worked. I kept trying to just fall out of his arm.

Ah, screw it.

"Sorry, Kuroo," I apologize, elbowing him in his abdomen again. He doesn't expect the sudden blow and slightly recoils from it. "Hey, that's what you get." I smile lightly, and he smirks at me, slightly perturbed.

"Hey, that's no way to treat your best friend and wingman."

"Best friend, sure. Wingman? Nope," I shrug, standing up. I'd been dropped onto the floor as a result of him letting go of me, but didn't really hit the floor in an awkward or painful position.

"Uh...are we fighting for training camp or something?" I hear Sawamura-san question, and I realize that as I was elbowing Kuroo, I wasn't paying attention to the door opening.

"Nope," Kuroo wheezes as he gets his breath back, and I don't regret elbowing him harder than I should be. "Just dropping off some luggage for Chibi-Chan. I'll be back to practice." As he walked off, I could tell he had that shit-eating grin on his face as he high-fived Bokuto after Yamamoto scored a point, silently celebrating his minor success. Wait.

Dang it, not Bokuto. I'm fine going to Sawamura-san and Kuroo for advice, hell, maybe even Yaku. but Bokuto?

I think it'd work better if I just asked Hinata how to date him properly like a tutorial section or something. Obviously, it wouldn't work, but hey, it'd be better than asking Bokuto.

"Kitty!" I hear an energetic voice pipe up, only to be charged into by an actual ray of sunshine, being launched back to the ground. "I missed you!" I can tell he's hugging me tight, and I can't help but hug back.

"Missed you too, Sunshine," I admit quietly, before whispering. "You actually passed?"

"Hey!" He sticks his tongue out at me. "I studied super hard!"

I'm genuinely surprised. Did he really want to come to practice that badly?

I whisper, realizing the eyes on me, "Can you get off of me, please? I think your team's watching us."

"Mhm!"

I smile.

Now, asking him out on a date? That's gonna be tough, I think.

///

"Oy, Kenma!" Kuroo calls out to me, and I turn around. I'd been on my phone for the last few minutes, since we were waiting for Karasuno to finish their diving drills before we moved on to the next practice games.

"We gotta talk about your date," he discreetly whispers, though with this stance right now, he's anything but discreet.

I sigh, reluctantly putting away my phone, "So, what do you suggest?" I'm plopped against the wall, and I'm pretty bored. The volleyball games haven't been all that exhilarating, and it's just like normal practice, almost. Just...louder.

"So, here's the thing. You're probably gonna be super shy and almost mute while you're on your date, right? I mean, Hinata might be the one to ask you out on a date, anyways."

"And what makes you think that?" I quirk an eyebrow, not sure what sort of signs he's been seeing. Is there some sort of Eagle Vision sort of thing that he possesses where you can just read body language like a secret agent?

"Are you blind, Kenma?" Kuroo teases, and I deadpan. "He can't get enough of you! I mean, look at him!" He points at where Karasuno is, and I'm not surprised to see Kageyama and Shou to be the first ones back. Kageyama, of course, is drinking some water.

Shou?

He's staring right at me.

We make eye contact.

And the moment we realize that we're staring at each other, I'm pretty sure we both look away. My cheeks feel hot.

"See?"

"Oh, shut up. Get to the point," I whisper, pretty embarrassed myself. "I know I'm not good at being social. What about it?"

"Here's the thing. Hinata likes you for you, right?" I hesitantly nod, still somewhat shocked at that being the apparent truth. "So you don't need to be super confident and all that. You can be exactly who you want to be."

"Okay, so this is just reassurance," I affirm, and he shakes his head with a smirk on his face.

I hate it when he smirks. Whenever he smirks, he's always got something going on behind that rooster-shaped hair of his. What's it like, being so smart only to use it to scheme for other people's romance? Can't he use it for Tsukishima or something?

"Well, Kenma, I'm getting to the meat of the thing," he chuckles, plopping himself right next to me against the wall.

"And that is?" I prompt, pulling my phone back out, making sure to listen absentmindedly.

"If he's not going to think you're acting differently, because you're acting just as who you are, he's going to be worrying about whether or not everything on the date's going to what he thinks your standard is," he muses, yet there's confidence in his voice. Certainty, almost.

"M-Me?" I stutter a little bit. "Why me?"

"Because his priority on this date is probably going to be making you happy. If you ask him out, his priority would be on how he's acting, where you can just slam that problem down by smiling him or squeezing his hand or some of that lovey-dovey stuff. Just act how you would normally or just however you would on your first date and he'll regain his confidence.

"Now, the more likely option is that he asks you out. That's where he's going to worry about your standards. That's where you have a bunch of options. You could either just straight out tell him that you're glad that you're with him and just tell him that you don't really care where it is as long as it's with him --"

"Holy crap, that's the cheesiest stuff I've ever heard," I let out a soft laugh. "There is literally no way I would destroy my pride for that."

"Sure you wouldn't," he rolls his eyes, matching the slight smirk I have. "Pretty sure you would."

"Yeah, what's the other option?" I roll my eyes as well, though some of my attention is still dedicated to Clash of Clans (Hey, it's not like there are too many other mobile games that are actually competitive and require an iota of skill. What, am I gonna bring my whole Switch to camp? That makes no sense.).

"Just...insinuate it," he speaks, the statement far more terse than his previous ones. "You know. Flirt, hug him, whatever."

I blink. He really thought this out, didn't he?

"And what if he tries something?"

"He won't. Besides, he's probably gonna ask Bokuto how to date someone."

"That's not smart," I sigh, remembering the voicemail that Kuroo showed me. "He'll probably just be saying stuff about volleyball and telling Shou to just ramble until he figures out what to do, or even worse, have an earpiece to give live advice."

"See? If that's what Bokuto'd do, there's no way my advice can be worse than that!"

"Debatable."

"Hey! You don't have to say that to your upperclassman, you know!"

"Ok, gramps."

~~~

"Hinata?" I hear Nishinoya-senpai ask, and I turn around. "You realize all the practice games and diving drills are over, right?"

I nod. I'd been blasting myself at the volleyball the entire time, and Kageyama hadn't even shown up yet. Did he really not know how to pass if we weren't competing?

Yikes.

"So...you haven't talked to Kozume-kun at all during this, have you?" He brings up, and I finally get what he's getting at.

"Oh! Thank you, Nishinoya-senpai! Can you tell Captain that I'm going to talk to Kenma?" I ask, bouncing up and down. I feel bad for it, but I think Kenma'd understand, right?! I love playing volleyball! Even during the practice game against Nekoma! I hugged him before the match, and then we played like always!

"Sure, Shouyou," he nods, before turning to Tanaka and talking about them being great upperclassmen.

They are.

"Thank you!" I finish, already turning around to run to Nekoma's team room. It isn't too far from ours, and by the looks of the light by the time I get there, they're still finishing their stuff up.

"Oh, Chibi-chan!" Kuroo calls out, since he's the first one I see come out of the door. "Kenma's waiting for you!" In what feels like three seconds, Kuroo walks into the Nekoma team room, pulls Kenma out, who's on his phone probably playing a game, definitely not paying attention to what's going on, and gently nudges him in my direction. Oddly enough, Kenma doesn't even notice what's going on as he just continues to walk in the direction Kuroo nudged him in. Has this happened before? Probably.

"Kitty!" I call out again, and this time, he perks his head up and looks at me. I charge at him again, and this time, he's prepared as he receives my potentially body-crushing hug. "I missed you so, so, so much!" I lift him up a bit, and he's not completely prepared as he gasps a little.

"I missed you too, Shou," he admits, hugging me back. There's a soft squeeze, as I rest my head on his chest. He's somehow taller than me to the point where I only have to slightly lean down to do it. It's nice. Comforting.

"I like your hugs," he gently observes, kissing me on the top of the head. I blush a little bit. "Do you think we can hug a little bit more?" I nod, looking up into his eyes.

"Can I have a kiss?" I softly ask, my tone nearly silent. It's the only time I want to be quiet, when I don't want to distract others like I do in volleyball.

When I'm with Kenma...I don't feel like I have the super jumpy aroundy energy that I always do. With him...it feels nice to not be moving around. Like I'm just...comfy and cozy.

This is the sort of time that I just want the two of us to have. It's nice, knowing that Kenma and I get to have this sort of time together that doesn't need to include anyone else.

"Only if you hug me afterwards," he gently whispers back. "Promise?"

"But I thought you didn't like hugs," I quietly tease, leaning a little more into him. "Now, can I get a kiss?"

"I love your hugs, Shou, but I love you even more," he flirts. "I'd love nothing more than to be with you right now." His tone is soft, sweet, and I just...feel the honesty in his voice. There's nothing else in the world right now as I stare into his eyes, instinctively leaning in.

I know that we've kissed a lot. A lot, a lot. And I still like cuddling more than kissing. A little tangent: I think my ranking would be hugging, kissing, cuddling. I think his is kissing, hugging, cuddling instead.

Either way? Even though his first kiss with me caught me off guard, and our kisses afterwards were amazing, from the short soft pecks to the kisses that were about five seconds long? All of that made me go gwah and poof and swaush! But this time?

This time, when he kisses me, it's like he doesn't want to let go. I can tell that we've been kissing for a little over ten seconds now, but it feels like heaven. I feel so warm right now. Is this what it feels like to be in love? It's different than the electricity that ran down my bones in our first kiss.

This feels...comforting. Sweet. I realize that his lips taste like apple, almost. It reminds me of apple pie, and it makes me feel even warmer and giddier inside to know that...you know, I'm his boyfriend! It's awesome, being the boyfriend of the most adorable person on the planet!

Even when he gently pulls me closer, I give in. I don't want to not give in, you know? It's been a month! What am I supposed to do when I see him?

Heck, even though I'm the one who pulls away first, I don't want to...I just suck at holding my breath. I feel...warm. Content. My shoulders aren't tense.

I love him so much.

"I love you too, Shou," he whispers, pulling me a little bit closer.

Ah, maybe I should get better at keeping these thoughts in my head.

Man, I wanna kiss him again...he had apple-pie-tasting lips, what am I supposed to do?!

"Shou...I put on apple pie flavored lip balm, you know..." he whispers.

Oops. Guess I messed up a little bit in keeping it in my head. Again.

"Do you really want another kiss?" He offers, and his eyes say it all. He's completely focused on me. And when he licks his lips, I instinctively gulp. Is he trying to...you know...do the...tongue thing?

U-Uh...how do I kiss with tongue?

"K-Kiss with tongue?" He stutters, blushing brightly before trying to regain his composure. "U-Uh, I mean, i-if you want to, I'm not...opposed to the idea." By the end of his sentence, he's a stuttering mess, the super confident, flirty and...hot (is that the right word? I don't know how to use hot other than like temperature, you know?) part of Kenma completely gone for the time being.

I gulp.

"I-I don't know how to," I admit, a sheepish smile on my face.

He blushes a little bit more, his breaths becoming a bit heavier. Deeper.

Ah.

Ahhhh.

I think I might sound like a creep for saying this.

But kissing Kenma like this?

It..It's _amazing._

///

"D-Do you think I could sleep with you tonight?" I shyly ask. Jeez, is this what it's like to feel shy? Gah, why can't I feel shy with other people?! I wanna be able to feel like Fwomp and Aosh in class so I don't get in trouble for behavior!

I-I don't know how to describe what he did. I-It went by so quick! H-He just cupped my cheek and I don't know how to keep going from there!

He gently nods, "Of course, Shou...let's just wait until everyone else falls asleep. I don't want them to make any weird remarks about us."

"Yay!" I quietly cheer, kissing him on the cheek. He tenses up, a light blush on his face. I love it when he blushes, actually.

"You're so cute."

"N-No."

After a few minutes of us waiting, catching up on what's been going on in our normal lives (where we sit against the wall with my head on his shoulder), we finally make the decision to sneak into Nekoma's team room.

"Wow...how does Lev sleep like that?" I ask, genuinely amazed.

"I dunno. He told me he always sleeps most comfortably when he's positioned like a pretzel." Yeah...Lev sleeps weird, I guess. Is it because he's Russian? Or do tall people just have to sleep like that? Either way, it looks like he's some sort of monk in meditation or something with his position!

"Wow...I wanna be able to do that!" I admire, and I feel like Kenma sees something in my eyes.

Kenma cringes a little, "I don't think cuddling like that'd be fun." Instantly, I blush. Oddly enough, the first thing I gain from that sentence is that Kenma's thinking about cuddling.

"Kitty, are you thinking about cuddling with me?" I tease, and he flushes a little bit. He twiddles his thumbs, hiding his face a little bit away into his hood.

"M-Maybe..." he admits quietly, and I hug him close.

"Awww~!" I smile brightly. "Where's that super smooth Kenma that kissed me earlier!"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," he shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant. He doesn't look nonchalant.

He looks hecking adorable.

"You're amazing..." I admit, gently pulling him down onto where he's supposed to be sleeping. I can't really care right now if they know I was here. I'll probably be awake and long gone waaay before they wake up.

As we lay down, I whisper a few words.

"Sometimes, I can't believe how kissable you are, Kitty."

"Well, you're pretty huggable yourself, Sunshine."

I barely even realize how quickly I fall asleep while we cuddle.

I wonder if he falls asleep quickly too.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I gotta say, this was just a bunch of fluff without too much plot (excluding the section with Kuroo), but I promise that next chapter's gonna be somewhat wack! I mean, I'm hoping that it comes across as tortuous (not torturous) and convoluted, because I'm honestly hoping that I can write it good enough for you guys to enjoy.
> 
> Take care!


	3. Paragons* of Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The name that Nishinoya came up with for him and Tanaka, though their spelling was far off. Oikawa already thought he was, and believed it didn't need to be said for his presence to imply his greatness.

"Kuroo, wake up!" I hear Lev whisper at me, practically hissing. It's not too pleasant a first thing to hear in the morning, I'll be honest. His voice nearly augurs pain and suffering the entire day, but that's being irrational.

Jesus Christ, I probably slept the most, but I still feel like I got a paucity of it.

"Mm," I groan, refusing to open my eyes. "Later...wake me up when we have practice."

There's a moment of silence from Lev as the rest of my teammates mumble around me.

"Kuroo, Tsukishima's here!" Lev whispers, this time more urgent.

My eyes fucking blast open to the point of a Disney character and before my mind even registers the thought of considering whether or not to wake up, I'm already sitting up.

I realize what he did.

"Oh, hardy-har," I roll my eyes, my voice coarse and rough. "Now what did you wake me up for?"

Lev stays silent, as if he's trying to come up with a reason, "Jesus, Lev, do you need some more diving drills for waking me up?"

"It's important, Kuroo," Yamamoto whispers; there's a key that clicks in my head. Yamamoto's never quiet. He has to be quiet for a reason, and it's usually a decently big one.

"Hm?" I hum, my eyes still not adjusted to the sudden light.

Yamamoto points somewhere, and my head follows.

"Wha- ohhh..." My voice trails off, a smirk manifesting on my face. "God, they really couldn't stay away from each other."

Right in front of my own eyes was Kenma and Chibi-Chan. Cuddling, still asleep, and way too comfortable.

"You know...don't wake them up. I gotta see how Karasuno's gonna react when they realize he isn't in their team room," I suggest, and the rest of the team nods. They look well asleep. Kenma usually slept in on his own, but the two things that are weird to me isn't even that he's asleep.

First, that Hinata's still asleep. From what Karasuno and Kenma told me, he usually wakes up at 5, sometimes even 4. Apparently he has to bike for 40-ish minutes every day to get to school, but waking up that early is still monstrous.

Second...Kenma didn't even fall asleep with like some sort of technology in his hands. No phone, no console, nothing. No piece of technology on him. No headphones, either. Just him and Chibi-chan.

"Yeah, I'm definitely going to use this to tease him later."

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Kuroo?"

"Absolutely, Yaku."

~~~

"Shouuu..." Kenma gently whispers, snuggling closer to him. "You're waaarm..." His voice was quiet, and he was barely awake. He was fighting to stay awake, not even realizing that his position had been switched as he was in the normally already awake boy's arms rather than the other way around.

"Kenma!" Hinata whispers intensely, his eyes wide open and clearly observant of his situation. "We need to get up!"

"Nooo..." Kenma lightly groans, hiding his face in Shouyou's chest. He knew there was sunlight blasting into the room, and was doing everything he could to avoid it.

"Please?!" Hinata whispers, a bit more embarrassed than anything. "K-Kitty?"

"Yeah, Sunshine?" Kenma's quiet voice came through, though muffled.

"Could you please get up?" Hinata's voice was urgent, as if he was desperately trying to get up but not wanting to disturb Kenma.

"Fiiine..." Kenma whispers, hesitantly releasing Shouyou from his grip. Very slowly opening his eyes, he couldn't help but notice the bright red blush on Hinata's face. "What happened, Sunshine?"

"You tell us, Kozume," Kageyama's amused voice echoes throughout the room, causing silence to come between the two teenagers still cuddling.

"W-What time is it?" Kenma stuttered, his voice way higher than what he normally had. He covered himself in the blanket, taking all of it away from Hinata, leaving him open to the elements.

"7:40. Training's about to start," Tsukishima explains. "Now, Hinata, tell us why exactly you were not only sleeping with Kozume, but you were in Nekoma's team room?"

"U-Uh," Shouyou stuttered, caught slightly off guard with the question and not sure how to answer other than just honestly. "I-I asked him i-if I could?"

Sawamura blinks, before placing a hand on his forehead, "Jesus, Hinata, I don't know how many drills would be enough to pay for how stupid that answer was."

"It's true!" Hinata affirms, embarrassed. "Now, c-could we get to training, please?!"

"H-Hold on, Shou," Kenma's voice is almost mute. "H-How did they even know we were here?" He'd been embarrassed by Karasuno seeing them content with each other, but those were times that he was not okay with, but could live. When Karasuno learned they were dating, it was decently fine. When they heard him spill out his emotions to Hinata, that was pretty embarrassing.

But seeing them sleep together? That was a whole different degree of embarrassing just because it showed the degree of how comfortable they were together, and considering how Kenma was usually indifferent and sometimes cold to literally everyone else in his life, it was not a welcome change for others to correlate him to this super cute, cuddly, adorable figure when Hinata was around, someone whose knees would just melt at the sight of him.

Of course, he knew that they were right. He didn't really care that he was more open towards Shou. In fact, he loved that he felt comfortable around Hinata. It was just that others knew.

"Oh, Kuroo showed us this picture," Sugawara explains, holding up a picture on his phone.

Kenma groans, "I'm going to kill him." He didn't even need to open his eyes or get out of the blanket to know exactly what sort of picture it was.

"Dumbass! C'mon! We have to practice!" Kageyama lectures, his patience clearly run out at this point in time.

"Mmm..." Hinata groans, sitting up. "Where's Tanaka-senpai and Nishinoya-senpai?"

"Waiting in the gym for you," Yamaguchi timidly explains. "They said something about talking to you about something during water breaks, so I think it's either about Kiyoko-san or something else..."

"God, I'm surprised you were still asleep," Sugawara sighs. "You're usually awake at 4 or something...did Kenma ask you to sleep?"

"N-No...I just woke up when you guys were here," Hinata admits.

Ennoshita prompts, a hand on his chin, "Kozume, is it okay if Hinata sleeps here for the rest of the training camp? I'm not too fond of being awake before the sun gets up."

"U-Uh, sure?" Kenma confirms, though slightly confused as to why that's the train of thought he took. That being said, he completely understood. He still wasn't used to Hinata's sleeping schedule, and he was glad that they would be able to cuddle a little more.

"Asahi, are you still down about that?" Daichi brings up, seeing the soft ace still sulking as some of the members disperse, heading back to the gym.

"What are you talking about?" Kenma asks, somewhat curious as he pops his head out of the blanket. "Shou, are you okay? You're really red."

"Oh," Sugawara perks up. "When Hinata woke up, he mistook Asahi for Jesus."

"..."

"Are you gonna say something?"

"I mean, I think I probably would too," Kenma admits with a light smile on his face as he scratched his head. He knew his bed-head wasn't anywhere near as bad as Hinata's, but he wished that he didn't have to fix it at all sometimes.

"A-Ah, it's okay, Asahi! You don't really look like Jesus!" Sugawara tries to comfort as the third-years leave the room.

Finally, Hinata thought, pulling Kenma in closer to him. "You're so cute when you wake up, Kitty." Initially, Kenma thought he was gonna kiss him, but instead was pulled in for a hug. He blushes.

"U-Uh," Kenma stutters in response, not knowing what words are coming out of his mouth. Eventually, he gives up, blushing a little more as he simply enjoys the warmth of being with his boyfriend. "That's not fair..."

"What's not fair, Kenma?" Shouyou asks, genuinely confused. Even now, neither of them truly grasped how they were so easily wrapped around each other's finger, nor how the other was wrapped around their own.

"J-Just...how you make me feel so warm inside..." Kenma pouts.

"Hey, you make me feel that way too," Hinata responds, his tone uncharacteristically gentle for someone as loud and boisterous as his. "In fact, I bet you make me feel warmer than I make you feel."

"This isn't a competition, Shou," Kenma sighs with a light smile as he kisses Shou on his cheek before hiding his face again. Even though they'd kissed before, and hell, kissed with tongue once before, doing things like this still really had Kenma out of his comfort zone at times, even if he knew he didn't regret it in the slightest later on.

"I love you, Kenma," Hinata smiles back, hugging him a little bit closer. "Now, let's go get dressed so we can practice, mmkay?"

Kenma pouts, "Fine...but when the day's over, you better come here again and cuddle with me."

"Wow, Kenma asking for physical touch? That's new," Hinata teases, prompting Kenma to playfully scooch away.

"You want me to take that back?" Kenma lightly smiles, rubbing the rest of the sleep out of his eyes. As Hinata stands up, he holds a hand out to Kenma who gratefully takes it as he's helped up.

"Oy, Lovebirds!" They hear three voices call out. Quickly, Kenma realizes two of them to be Nishinoya and Tanaka. The third one is completely unfamiliar, but Hinata seems to be completely aware of who the voice belongs to, even though there's a little confusion behind why he recognizes it.

"The Grand King?!" Hinata nearly shrieks as the door to Nekoma's team room opens up, revealing the two boys who were already known to the two of them, as well as Oikawa, who Kenma had yet to meet yet.

"Hey, Shrimpy," Oikawa greets playfully, his tone lighthearted as usual when he wasn't in a game. "Ah, so you must be his boyfriend?"

"H-How did you --" Kenma begins, curious as to why someone he didn't even know already knew about the relationship that the two short teenagers had shared.

"Kuroo told me. Oh, I should introduce myself!" Oikawa perks up, causing Nishinoya and Tanaka to cringe a little bit in disgust; despite how physically attractive Oikawa seemed to be, they quickly learned to not enjoy his presence. "I am Oikawa Tooru, setter for Aoba Johsai!"

"Aaand...why does Shouyou call you the 'Grand King?'" Kenma blinks, tossing on his team uniform. "Or is there something that I really shouldn't be asking about?"

"Oh, that's cause the Grand King's an even better setter than Kageyama!" Hinata chirps, jumping up a little bit in excitement and in adoration. "I wanna be as good a player as he is eventually!"

"Good God," Tanaka groans dramatically, interrupting their conversation. "If Oikawa's your role model, you're not going to get anywhere, Hinata. Take after me or Nishinoya!" The shortest teen of all of them nods in agreement, glad to be a good example for his Kouhai.

Oikawa, however, would not take the jab at his abilities, "Well, personally, I think you made the perfect choice, Shrimpy!"

"Uh...why did the three of you come here anyways? Shou and I are already getting ready for practice," Kenma questions, as he puts on his shoes. He got ready exponentially faster than Shouyou, who repeatedly got distracted. Even as attentive as Kenma was, he wasn't able to keep his boyfriend on track the entire time without distracting himself in turn.

That isn't to say that he wasn't nearly ready, though. With the help of Kenma, who'd stop his rambling every now and then, he was able to get his preparation done relatively quickly (even if Kenma did enjoy hearing Hinata just rant about stuff that he really likes, and even sometimes stuff that he disliked).

"Oh, that reminds me! Hinata, come with us! We gotta talk to you!" Nishinoya excitedly bounces up and down.

"About what?" Hinata questions, tilting his head, this time in curiosity.

"About...practice!" Tanaka bluffs, the cover-up so weak that someone that was nearly braindead could understand it.

Fortunately for him, Hinata was just the right amount of stupid to not get it. Even if it meant that everyone else in the room could call his bluff, including Kenma, who instantly felt suspicious of their actions.

"And for me," Oikawa bows as if he was in theatre playing Romeo. "Kuroo requested I talk to you to advise you, setter to setter."

Kenma blinks, "Sorry, but I'm good."

"Not what I meant, Kitty, but fine," Oikawa sighs. It was clear that his subtlety went over the head of most of the people in the room, though some of that could be attributed to how he just acted normally.

"Hey! I'm the only one who can call him Kitty!" Hinata interrupts.

"Fine. I'll call him 'Property of Shrimpy.' You happy?"

"Hey!"

~~~

"So," I heard Oikawa start, catching me during one our practice breaks while some of the teams were doing diving drills. "Kuroo told me about your date troubles and all that."

I groaned, "God, are you trying to get in on this, too?" I somehow tore my eyes off of my phone to look at the setter, who looked pretentious simply by standing near me.

"Hey, whatever you and Shrimpy do is none of my business," Oikawa clicked his tongue as he put a hand on his hip. "Kuroo just wanted me to do you a favor, really, by giving you a little advice."

"And that is?" I prompted, setting my phone down. I'd long been rested up, considering how I put what felt like a negative amount of effort into practice. Besides, we were against Shinzen. The one with the broccoli-headed guy. I couldn't really put too much effort into it, anyways, since their strategies were so easy to pick apart and counter.

"Look, you probably know him way better than I do. But one thing you can definitely say about him is that he's confident, bubbly, energetic, right?" Oikawa nodded, crouching down, making sure not to put too much pressure on his bad knee.

"Obviously," I agree, rolling my eyes slightly. "What does this have anything to do with the date? I already know that."

"Well, think about it. He's probably going to be all over the place during the date, get off track, find something he really likes, right?" I nodded when he brings that up; I'd expect Shou to be really captivated by the Tokyo Tower and all the sights around. I sure was when I went there.

"So, the main choice for you here is this: Do you go along with him and follow him along or try to get him to focus on you?" Oikawa asked, and honestly, I'm not sure what he wants me to answer. Is he actually giving me the choice here, or is it rhetorical?

"I'd like to try following along with him," I shrugged. "Besides, it's his first time being to the Tokyo Tower."

"So that means you're going to have to keep up with him," Oikawa inferred, not missing a single beat as he transitioned. "Not only that, he's confident. He'd probably expect you to just go along with that, right?"

I blink. Does Shou expect that of me? I hope he doesn't, honestly. I'll ask him eventually, but I don't think I could ever keep up with him in terms of actual confidence. Hell, I barely talk to people if I'm not talked to first.

"Well, if I guess correctly, he probably won't stop hounding you. I don't know how to help you with this, so I think you'll have to take it from here, but I think you should try becoming more confident, or at least seeming more confident whenever you're around him. Hard, I know, since you're probably head over heels for the kid," Oikawa observed, recommending the treatment to my non-existent ailment of wanting help for a date.

But becoming more confident?

In the span of the training camp?

God, that's going to be nearly impossible!

"Ok, but...how?" I blinked, genuinely concerned. "I...I don't think I'm confident in the slightest, let alone confident enough to match Shou..." I turned my head away from him, furrowing my eyebrows.

"That's where you're wrong, Kozume," he clicked his tongue. "You don't have to be confident enough to match him. You just gotta act the part."

"Hey, what're y'all talkin' about?" Kuroo interrupted. Thank God. I think that's the first time I've ever really been glad for Kuroo to interrupt and ruin a conversation.

"Oh, nothin' much," Oikawa assured. Bull. "I was just complimenting him on his abilities as a setter."

Kuroo smirked, "Yep, that's Nekoma's brain." He seemed incredibly proud of what seemed like an incredibly odd statement to make. "Who knows, maybe next year he'll be setting just like you."

Oikawa smirked back, a bit of malice in his tone as he muttered, "He's gotta beat my junior first. Tobio-chan isn't easy to beat, but I think your team's got it covered. You beat them in a practice match, right?"

I nodded, quietly speaking, "Yes. We've beat them quite a bit during the training camps as well." I'm glad that Kuroo was able to shift the conversation to a...more comfortable topic. It helped get my mind off of the issue Oikawa presented to me.

Do I really need to be more confident to be with Shou on a date? I mean...when we're alone, I don't think so. I think he's somehow less confident than I am whenever we're alone. If that's even believable.

I think it's because I...I'm aware that I can make him smile. That I have the ability to make him blush and smile and even be quiet at times.

Even though I've doubted that a bunch.

Maybe it's different when I'm on a date. I've never been on one, after all.

"Then you should be fine," Oikawa smirked, and I know his words had more than one meaning. I blinked, gulping a little bit, though Kuroo luckily doesn't notice.

"So, you ask Hinata out on a date?" Kuroo asked, an equally annoying smirk on his face. I shook my head, a bit of my hair swaying as I did so.

"I...I don't think I have the confidence to right now," I admitted, my eyes drifting a little bit to the floor. It was partially true. I didn't have any reason to not trust what Oikawa said, even though I knew Shou better than him. I think it was just true in terms of just how dates worked, in terms of how the other person enjoyed it.

"Well, I don't think you gotta be too confident, you know?" Kuroo thought out loud. "I think you just gotta be you. I think the only issue's gonna be restraining Chibi-Chan."

I blinked at that. Did Kuroo really ask Oikawa for help, or is it just me?

Do I need to be more confident or is my current confidence fine as is?

Should I let Hinata just go off and act as crazy as he does normally or do I need to actually put in effort to make sure he keeps paying attention to our date?

Jesus, dating's hard.

Maybe I'm making it tougher than it needs to be. I'm not sure.

"What do you mean restrain him?" I furrowed my eyebrows, unsure what he really meant. I only inferred what he meant, but it was Kuroo. I could never be too sure with how weird his suggestions were at times, or what he even meant.

"Well, not really restrain him. I think what I mean is to keep his attention, not on the date, necessarily, but to you," he pointed a finger at my chest, practically poking it.

"Keep his eyes on me? How am I supposed to do that?" I tilted my head a little bit, even more confused now. "It's not like I have a bunch of stuff to keep him occupied with."

"Au contraire, Kenma." I noticed he used that phrase a lot, but only when I denied a point that he brought up. "You have a ton of videogames. If Chibi-chan can go on and on about volleyball, I think you can gush about whatever techno-gizmo stuff you have. I'm sure he'd be interested in hearing what you have passion about."

"Would he even understand what I'd say?" I cringe a little bit, realizing how he probably has no idea how to play any video game. That'd be tough in its own right.

"He doesn't need to understand what you're talking about. You know when I told you that one time during the last training camp that the expression you have watching Chibi-chan is the same as when you get a new game?" I nodded, recalling the moment. I remember that when it happened, I denied it instantly, but now, I sort of get what he meant.

"Yeah...so what?"

"If you, the person who probably cares about volleyball least here, can get excited about volleyball because of him," Kuroo observed, sticking a thumb out at Karasuno, specifically at Shou (who was being talked to by Tanaka and Nishinoya at the moment). "Then he, who doesn't really play videogames, can definitely be happy listening to you talk about something you enjoy."

Honestly? A lot of Kuroo's ideas are pretty dumb.

A lot of his thoughts can come out as dumb.

But that does make a bunch of sense, more than normal. Not even in Kuroo terms. It'd make sense to anyone, I think.

He really put too much time and effort into thinking this thing out.

"Oh, Kenma?"

"Hmm?" I hum, as he stands up.

"Since you're probably gonna ask him tomorrow or something after dinner, there's an hour before then. Meet me in the gym at 7:30 so we can have a final talk, cool?"

"Sure."

~~~

"Hey, hey, hey, Hinata!" Bokuto calls out to me during our diving drills. "We gotta talk!"

I tilt my head, wondering what he has to say to me. What if he has something new to teach me, like the feint?! That'd be so cool! What if he taught me how to spike stronger, or how to become more accurate?! Oh my gosh!

"About what?" I perk up, bouncing a little bit.

"Your date with Kenma," he quietly whispers, leaning in. "So, you know how I said that the Tokyo Tower's the perfect place, right?"

I nod, smiling a little bit. I could barely contain myself last night and almost asked him out of the blue. It was tough not to, actually!

"Since it's the perfect place, one of the things you gotta work on is how you act, you see? Kenma wants to be there because of you, so one of the things you gotta make sure not to do is to seem like you're ignoring him!" He smiles brightly, confidence unwavering. I can trust what he says, right? He seems like this is just fact!

"So, think about it. Tokyo Tower's a great place, right?" I nod. "So, you're probably gonna be lost in all the sight, all the vision, the sight of the city. I was when I went there for the first time, y'know!"

He pokes my chest, emphasizing his next point, "So you gotta make sure you get lost in it, lost enough so that Kenma thinks that this was the perfect place to pick, but not so much that he thinks that you're not paying attention to him."

I tilt my head a little more, "How would I do that?"

"Well, how do you usually keep on track with him normally?" He asks, and he can tell that I have no idea what he means by that. "Lemme rephrase that. If you get distracted, and when he isn't the one to get you back on track, what's something you do to make sure that you still pay attention to him."

I blink, "I-I mean, we usually hold hands...that's usually enough to get me to stop bouncing around all the time..."

"Then that's perfect! Long as you do that, you won't need my help!" Bokuto congratulates, smacking my back hard enough to the point where it almost propelled me forward. "Good luck on your date. And Hinata, make sure to have fun!" He finishes as he sprints back to his team at the call of Akaashi. I wonder if Akaashi needs hearing aids.

Well, at least I can go talk to Kenma now!

I hop up from my spot, fully rested up, and walk over to where Nekoma is, searching around for Kenma.

I stop in my tracks.

He's talking to Oikawa. He looks uncomfortable. Like Oikawa's interrogating him.

God, I can't let this happen. I speed up my pace a little more, before I notice two things that happen. First, that Kuroo interrupts their conversation. Thank God. I don't think Oikawa was making Kenma feel comfortable, and I doubt he was just talking about setter stuff. I shudder, wondering what Kageyama would say if he was in a conversation about setters between the three of them.

Secondly, that Tanaka and Nishinoya step in front of me, a proud smile on their face as they each put a hand on my shoulder.

"So, Bokuto talk to you about spiking?" Tanaka smiles, this time a little more genuine. I blink, before nodding. I'm not sure how they'd react if they found out that Bokuto was also trying to give me advice, and the same for Bokuto. I don't think they'd be quiet about it, though.

"Nice!" Nishinoya compliments the ace, who's already back with his team with the same word he repeats three times over again, enough to make everyone happy. Heck, even I'm smiling at it and I'm not even on his team!

Nishinoya continues, "So, he's your spiking teacher, and we're going to teach you all about dating!"

Jeez, again? I just wanna talk with Kenma already so I can actually ask him out!

"So, first off," Tanaka begins. "You don't gotta change how you act at all."

Instantly, Tanaka and Nishinoya start building off each other, but I feel like they'd been talking about this ever since the bus ride any moment they got to, "Kenma likes you for you, as we've established a ton of times before. So even if you get distracted, it's fine. Kenma'll understand. Heck, he'll probably fall even harder for you if you seem super into it."

I blush heavily, wondering the opposite of that. If Kenma fell for me harder because of something like that, I don't know how I'd hold myself back if Kenma even mentioned something he's interested in, like videogames.

"U-Uh," I stutter, my body trying to act without my brain being there at all.

"Yeah, I know, it's all good to be as embarrassed as you are," Nishinoya continues. "First dates are always tough at first but, more likely than not, you enjoy it!"

"So, here's the plan for tomorrow, since you're probably gonna organize the actual date tomorrow, right?" I nod again. I don't think I could count how many times I've just gestured in the conversation instead of talking, but right now, I don't think I can actually form sentences that aren't going to turn into one word.

"Great! Before you meet him, you have like an hour before dinner comes along, right?" I nod. Wow, what a new gesture.

Tanaka finishes before the two of them walk off proudly, "Meet us up in the gym then, okay? 7:30!"

  
  



	4. Scheme the Schemer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo's plan's fallen apart.
> 
> Yet, he still can't realize that his plan fell into the grand scheme of one person.

Kuroo thought himself a puppeteer.

He never found his role to be one of power, or one that was manipulative.

Whenever he came up with his plans, he found it to be for his own interest, though when it came to his childhood friend, it usually was for his benefit. Even if Kuroo himself was quite entertained.

Finding a way to enlist the help of various people for this scheme without their knowledge? Beautiful. The way that they didn't even know how they interacted so well together to form this sort of spider's web? Artistic.

And the buildup to the eventual success, the climax of his plan? Whether it be a prank, a surprise for someone, or getting your best friend laid, that was his absolute favorite part.

Well, second favorite part.

Having everything line up was certainly his favorite part.

To him, it was like a Rubik's cube. When you solve a layer, and then another layer, and permuting all the pieces to where they should be, forming that beautiful symphony of colors melting together in that show of genius?

That was the role of the puppeteer.

But, a puppeteer wasn't exactly the type of thing he agreed with, though Kenma had referred to him as that before. So he simply took it on as his title.

His form of being a puppeteer was one where the audience would get enjoyment out of it, but him? It was ecstasy for Kuroo.

Kuroo thought himself a puppeteer.

He held quite a few puppets in his arsenal. This specific performance?

Bokuto, Kenma, Hinata, Oikawa, and Daichi.

That was his plan.

Yet, his first thought was wondering whether or not the puppets could see their strings. That wasn't the issue.

The issue that the strings had snapped. When one cog messes up, the entire mechanism stops. When one string snaps, the entire performance is ruined. Let's say, hypothetically, you're an actual puppeteer. Now, one of your puppet's strings snap. It's right arm can't move.

That's super obvious to the audience. To the puppeteer. It drains some of the enjoyment.

This was like making an impromptu plan.

Since one puppet wasn't at the performance, and two more came barging in, acting without the puppeteer's influence.

That was what Sawamura, Nishinoya, and Tanaka had done to his plan.

They'd broke the strings. The performance.

So he had to plug himself into the equation. He had initially planned for a few scenes where Hinata and him would speak, he could be convinced, and everything would be a happily ever after for him.

But with the sudden absence of Daichi, he had to take his role himself. And boy, he didn't fit into it at all. He'd talked with Kenma his whole life, but giving actual dating advice without the support of the team? That wasn't something he'd been prepared for in the slightest. He didn't think he ever would know, anyways, for the next month, due to a tall, glasses-wearing boy on Karasuno.

That was a problem.

This was his last resort.

Asking Kenma to go to the gym tomorrow at 7:30, before dinner? That wasn't planned in the slightest.

But this was his only option to get the plan back on track.

And the puppeteer had some extra string to fix the puppets up with.

~~~

Oikawa, in every aspect of his life, thought himself a tactician. In volleyball as a setter, in school in the social hierarchy, and even in romance. He'd swooned many ladies in his day, sometimes even as a side effect of what he'd planned to get a girlfriend.

Though that was much to Iwaizumi's chagrin.

And of course, when a tactician makes a plan, it's for the long run. He plans to make the battle, no matter its outcome, put the war in his favor.

That was the case when he heard that Kenma and Hinata were dating. He had no personal stake when it came to their relationship, and he found that it probably wasn't using his time beat.

However, in the long run? It'd be perfect.

While this was his last year at Aoba Johsai, he was thinking of little else than what he and his team could gain from it. He knew full well that there was no way that Hinata wasn't going into volleyball. He was an even bigger volleyball junkie than Ushijima and himself, which by that alone was a feat.

As Iwaizumi knew, and frequently scolded Oikawa on, his intention was simply to make sure that he could distract Hinata as much as possible, and Kenma was the perfect way to make that happen.

Yet, as he quickly learned, being a matchmaker was harder than playing the game, than fighting the war. Especially when the pieces you move around in the game of chess are pieces you don't know the function of.

Oikawa was a simple tactician.

Yet, it did not mean his logical and rational connections were not prone to emotion. That emotion wasn't necessarily due to actual emotion, but to determination.

At times, the tactician fell into a tunnel-vision stare. He could mainly focus on one thing for one time, like a super prolonged hyper-fixation. Most people would simply call it a hobby, but the tactician commonly felt his interest too strong to simply be categorized a hobby. It was practically an obsession.

Yet, of course, similar to the puppeteer, the plan he contrived simply fell apart, not able to withstand the onslaught of external factors he did not expect to have to take into account.

That's when he saw Kuroo talk to Kenma. About the exact.

Same.

Topic.

Oikawa couldn't help but feel the power slip from his hands, sift through his fingers like sand would.

He had to resort to a last chance.

He sent a text to Kenma.

_ Hey! It's me, Oikawa! Come to the gym at about 7:30 so I can talk to you once more before you ask Shrimpy out, got it? _

That was his only hope. Whether or not Kenma came was up to him, but he didn't think going there for a bit would hurt in the slightest.

Of course, he didn't think it was the most honorable way to distract your opponent. Besides, despite his actions and how others perceived his immature tendencies, he valued beating an opponent while they were at their best heavily.

Yet, when it came to his dear underclassman...he couldn't help himself. There was somewhat an innate instinct when it came to Kageyama, to beat him no matter what, the grudge and resentment for superior talent always ringing at the back of Oikawa's mind.

Oddly enough, Iwaizumi had been the only one to realize and question what his friend was doing. Mad Dog had questioned what he was doing, but without the context of the call, he had no lead to go off of.

This was the tactician's weirdest hope. He knew he had the tools to become better. He knew he had the determination to surpass even Kageyama's, the perseverance to become the best on his own terms.

But once...just once...even though he'd learned from his role model that he can complain once he's given literally everything he has...

The tactician wondered what it would be like...if he didn't have to push with all his might to even equal talent.

And breaking the talented one's tools?

That seemed to work.

~~~

Bokuto, though his grades were abysmal, still thought himself a teacher. A mentor. A role model. A captain. Just...someone to look up to.

That's sort of why he felt so strongly for Hinata, this sort of urge to help him. It was almost like a parental role, though not exactly what he was going for. 

When the bright-eyed, super bubbly piece of sunshine that probably God himself personally blessed upon the Earth with his smiles, he knew that there was something that he had done right in a previous life if that exact boy had come up to him in admiration, asking for him to be his teacher.

And no. He didn't think Akaashi was the mother to his fatherly relationship to Hinata. Though he partially wished it so.

There wasn't too much behind it at first.

That's when the first wave of applause came in, trapped him in the whirlpool of this role he gladly played for the young teenager.

It made him feel like a true ace.

He knew, that in reality, he wasn't like your ordinary ace. And he didn't mean it in the sense of being a top 5 ace in the entire country.

He wore his 'Way of the Ace' shirt with pride. Yet, he knew there was more to being an ace than that. Especially the first one. 

His back? He knew that his teammates had faith in him, that they acknowledged his strength and his ability to carry them to the finish line.

Yet, he knew that in the end, rather than being a role model for his team, he knew he was like the baby of his team, especially during practice. He'd been able to resist the urge during games, yet weakness still showed here and there.

Hinata?

The kid made him feel like he was truly powerful. Where he knew he was a true inspiration. And sure, while Hinata wouldn't have affection for Bokuto as he would for Kenma, he knew that was fine. It was a different type of affection. An admiration sort of affection.

That was a factor in what propelled Bokuto to keep improving. To keep following the way of the ace. To fight harder, stronger, faster, to be the best ace he could be.

And hey. It was said that when he was serious, he could match the top 3. Hell, match Ushijima, Sakusa, and Kiryuu!

Bokuto knew that being serious wasn't his strong suit.

Yet, the role of being a teacher?

He sure as hell wanted to be more serious.

Cause in the end?

People like to be strong. It's what allows them to have fun.

Bokuto, even though he played volleyball, and happened to be really good at it, even if he sucked, he knew that there was one thing keeping him going. It was the same thing he said to Tsukishima.

When you finally have your moment? That's when you'll be hooked on volleyball.

That was the same thing for romance. Or at least, what Bokuto thought.

Sure, they'd probably had their fair share of super cute moments. But their first date? That's what he wanted Hinata and Kenma to experience. A moment so great and amazing to the both of them that they'll be hooked on each other.

Or, at least more hooked on each other. The sort of hooked on each other to have hearts in your eyes whenever you hear that person talk.

When Bokuto asked Hinata to come to the gym at 7:30, and the boy said that he was actually already planning on going there?

It was like a piece of cake! Like it was just being handed to him.

So, yeah, maybe his job was being made just a little bit easier.

Who's to say the job being hard is the only sign of it going well?

~~~

Out of everybody in the training camp, Tanaka and Nishinoya were proud to call themselves Hinata's upperclassmen. They simply exuded confidence, and loved to be role models. It made them feel good about themselves, perhaps so that they could present themselves to Kiyoko in a better light.

Their irrational motives may have been furtive, but their instinctual ones were definitely what most would call wholesome.

Of course, Hinata'd wormed his way into their hearts. It happened to everyone, honestly. It was a comparison used almost all the time, but it was like Sugawara simply adopted him the moment he saw the little boy.

And who could blame him? He was the most hopeful, determined, kind-hearted, loving, passionate boy that they'd ever seen. The two of them could barely find a flaw in him other than the fact that he was inexperienced and could argue and sometimes get annoyed with Kageyama.

That was it.

And being able to call themselves role models to that sack of sunshine? That would be the hugest flex on any volleyball player they met, even Ushijima. Who cared about being one of the top aces? To be the role models for that would be perfect!

And of course, that sort of selfishness turned into the exact opposite. It was pure selflessness, lending money, buying ice cream, helping out with homework (even though they were in desperate need of help themselves) and so much more practically became routine for the two of them, and you know what?

They loved every bit of it.

They felt like proud surrogate parents when he was at school, and it was perfect for the three of them.

And when Kenma came along?

God, they felt their hearts burst.

They'd never seen Shouyou smile so much, or feel so affectionate with someone. And judging by the looks of it, the two of them were so far in love with each other that it seemed humanly impossible.

It didn't matter.

They felt like they did their job right. They were satisfied.

They had felt like their baby bird was finally leaving the nest, finally flying on their own. And they were okay with that. However difficult it may have been to have given him away without even being his actual parents, or without his knowledge that they felt this way.

Yet, now, they had been called back to arms. They had yet another task in front of them. This one held almost as much importance as getting back at Aoba Johsai. This one almost held as much importance as getting to Nationals.

This...was proving that they were romantic experts. Geniuses, even.

It was a sort of thing that they had to do for their pride. For the boy they were inspirations to. For themselves. It was something they wanted to do. Not just cause it would make them look better.

But just cause it would be something any good friend would do. Nobody has to be a good role model or an inspiration or a teacher or anything like that to be a good friend to someone. Just to make someone smile, a little more happy, make the world a better place.

And even if it seemed like Tanaka and Nishinoya were messing around with this?

If everyone ended up happy and satisfied...they counted that as a success.

~~~

"Keeeeenma!" I hear Shouyou call out from behind me. Turning around, I already knew what was coming.

"I missed you!" He gleefully admits, instantly wrapping his arms around me, peppering a few kisses onto my forehead and cheeks. I have to admit, it was nice.

Scratch that.

It was heart-melting.

Jeez, if Kuroo could read my thoughts, I'd probably have died from embarrassment by now.

Anyways.

"I missed you too, Shou," I admit, hugging him back. "How was practice? I heard you guys did 20 hill sprints today."

He nods, like an excited puppy, "Mhm! I did ten more because I felt really energetic!"

"Shou," I blink, my tone still quiet. "You still seem jam-packed with energy..." I hug him a little tighter, even more comfortable with him in my arms now. I thought about trying out a sort of bun hairstyle, but I'm not sure that'd look to great. Besides, Shou would probably compliment me for hours, and I don't think I could take that kind of attention.

Maybe I could.

But I think a few blood vessels would pop just from blushing.

Is that how it works?

I doubt it.

"But I'm here with you now!" He bounces a little bit, and he almost lifts me off the ground. "Where are you going?"

"Oh. I'm just heading to the gym," I admit. "Uh...I know this is a weird question to ask, but..."

Shou tilts his head, his breath hitching. I realize what he's thinking about.

He thought that I was going to ask him out on a date.

"U-Uh, never mind," I blush heavily at the thought, averting my eyes from his curious gaze.

"Aww..." He smiles brightly, kissing me on the temple. "You're so cute!"

"Get a room, lovebirds," Tsukishima mutters, as he passes by. God, he's like the Lev of our team, but good at volleyball.

"Not so loud, Tsukki!" I hear...I think it's Yamaguchi, whisper, though it's nowhere near discreet.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi," he mutters. I blink. How can someone act like that so bluntly to their best friend?

And how can Kuroo even be into that sort of stuff? Is he some sort of masochist?

Ew. I don't even wanna know what sort of stuff my best friend's really into. I don't think my stomach's strong enough for that.

"Kenmaaa..." I hear Shouyou call out to me again, though quieter. "What were you going to say?"

I blink, before I realize what I was going to ask. I think it might be even bigger than what he was thinking of, even if it doesn't seem like much to me, "Is it okay if I set to you for a bit?"

In all honesty, that wasn't even my intent. I just felt like asking because I know how much he wants me to like volleyball.

And hey, don't get me wrong. I'm not lying to Shou by implying that I like it.

Cause, to be honest? I don't dislike it. I've just sort of felt apathetic for the whole sport. But I don't know why, maybe it's just cause of him.

I'm starting to think that volleyball...with my teammates, with my friends, with the people I'm close to...it's a little more than something I'm apathetic about.

Especially when I play it with Shou. Whenever I see that super excited smile on his face where he just feels so giddy while spiking...I guess I do, as Kuroo says, feel the same way I do when I get a new videogame.

I gently smile as I watch a super excited grin come onto his face, "I'm not as good a setter as Kageyama, but I'd be willing to help you spike for a bit."

He's wordless. All that's on his face is satisfaction, as he pulls me back into his arms. I can tell by his frantic nodding that he obviously wants to; I doubt there's ever been a time where he didn't want to play volleyball.

"I love you so much, Kitty," he softly whispers, his tone back to that time when we cuddled together that one time. I like it when he's quiet like this. It's a side of him that makes me...feel satisfied. Not super joyous or bubbly or excited like how I feel when he acts like he always does...but whenever he acts like this?

I'd be pretty glad if I could do this with him for the rest of my life. I'd never get bored of it, honestly.

"Love you too, Sunshine," I run my fingers through his hair. "But I really do think we should be getting to the gym. Kuroo wanted me to meet him there."

Shou gasps, "Maybe he can help me practice blocking!" He releases me from his grip and instantly heads faster to the gym, but not so fast that I can't keep up. He's holding me by the hand, and while I hate moving faster than a walking speed, he's making sure that he isn't too far ahead. It's nice.

Plus, while we speed-walk, he isn't trying to make any conversation. In fact, he looks like he's thinking about something. I can only curiously tilt my head at him while I catch up and get used to his pace, wondering what's on his mind where he's actually silent. Like me. Not trying to make conversation.

I hear arguing inside the gym.

What's going on...

Oh.

I hear Kuroo.

That's what's going on.

~~~

Huh? Why is there so much arguing?

As I slowly open the door, I try not to make too much noise.

Oops.

Of course the door creaks.

Now of all times!

"Nishinoya-Senpai? Tanaka-Senpai? What are you doing, talking to Rooster Head?" I ask, more confused than ever. I can understand why Kuroo'd be there, but I thought Nishinoya-Senpai and Tanaka-Senpai would already be in the dining hall waiting for dinner.

"Eh?" Kuroo sneers at the two of them, finally acknowledging me. "I was planning to talk to Kenma about something important, but these two knuckleheads got in the way...and here I was, finally starting to think that shorter people other than Chibi-chan aren't too bad."

I know his remark really wasn't meant to insult short people, but I know who it was supposed to provoke.

Nishinoya.

As both Tanaka and Nishinoya start blasting off at Kuroo, causing Kenma to slightly cover his ears due to the noise, I feel a slight tap on my shoulder. It's probably Kenma.

"What is it, Ki--" I turn around, only to realize it wasn't Kenma who tapped me on the shoulder.

It was Bokuto.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He introduces himself flamboyantly. "How's my favorite student doing?"

Silence.

I could probably hear a pin drop. Kenma noticed it, too, and covered his ears even more.

"U-Uh..." I stutter, trying to come up with a plan before something happens. "Kenma, d-do you wanna practice a little over there?"

"Hold it!" Nishinoya-Senpai interrupts. "Shouyou, I thought we were your favorite upperclassmen! What's this guy doing?!"

"Uh...oh, wait! You guys are the meat guys!" Bokuto remembers, probably remembering that time we sang and danced.

"We're not just the meat guys! We're Hinata's favorite upperclassmen!" Tanaka-Senpai insists, and Kenma and I slowly creep away, over to the other end of the gym.

"Hinata! Aren't we going to have a final talk about your date thingymajig?!" Bokuto cries, and I freeze, slowly turning to Kenma.

To my surprise, he has an eyebrow raised, "Shou...I don't know why you need dating advice when you could literally just ask me out and I'd jump at the bit to say yes...but asking for dating advice from Bokuto?"

I blink, his words getting through my head. I...could just ask him?

Um.

I see that he has a huge blush on his face from admitting that, and that he uses his hoodie to hide it. His tone was quiet, but his surprise was obvious. Weirdly enough, he almost seemed flattered that I wanted it to go so well, so I asked other people.

But the weirdest thing for me is what I ask Kenma. It's not to go out on a date. It's not even something that's on my mind. Honestly, it's probably the last thing I'd be thinking about at the moment.

"You're not mad at me?"

It's quiet. Soft.

I'm certain Kenma is the only one who heard it, especially since everyone else is focused on Bokuto, Nishinoya-Senpai, and Tanaka-Senpai.

And when he hears it?

He smiles. He just...smiles.

And I hear a soft laugh. It's just one little noise.

Then a few chuckles. He laughs a little bit.

"Jesus, Shou, you're stupid sometimes," he laughs a little more, walking over to me and grabbing my hand. "Ask Kuroo what I've been doing this entire training camp."

Kuroo, at the sound of his name, turns over to us and stupidly points at himself. I guess he can see the look in our eyes, especially by the smirk that came onto his face then.

"Oh, Kenma over there was too embarrassed to ask you out on a date, so I decided to help him," he laughs it off, before watching everyone else argue.

"Yoo-hoo~" A voice comes in, and everyone freezes. "Hey, Kenma, we gotta talk."

Oikawa.

"You! What are you trying to do to Kenma?!" Nishinoya-Senpai and Tanaka-Senpai blast, even though they probably haven't had a conversation with him in ages. Yet, when Kenma and I started dating, they considered themselves guardians of the both of us, I think. Or at least, protectors. It's nice...but it can be a bit problematic sometimes, like right now.

"Huh? Me? I'm just being myself," Oikawa smoothly denies.

"Hold up! What are you trying to do to my favorite student! I'm his favorite upperclassman!" Bokuto interrupts, pointing a finger at Nishinoya-Senpai and Tanaka-Senpai.

Kuroo seems fed up, though, and starts arguing with all of them all over again.

This really isn't going well, is it?

As the five of them argue, eventually pulling Oikawa into the gym to argue more with Kuroo, I realize something.

The doorway's empty.

In an instant, I make the sudden decision, right then and there.

I grab Kenma's hand and quietly lead him outside.

I whisper to him once we're outside the gym, "Did you really ask Kuroo and Oikawa for help to ask me on a date?"

He blushes a little bit, twiddling his thumbs, "U-Um...yeah...I was hoping to ask you out on a date...and I didn't know how to act on it...I was hoping to make it a good date so you'd be happy on our date..." his eyes aren't on me, but I gently grab his hand.

I don't even take a breath, and without skipping a beat, I whisper, not even asking, "Kenma, go on a date with me."

He blinks, then laughs a little bit, "Wow, Shou. So mean."

"Huh?"

"I spent all that time of training camp wondering how I was going to ask you out on a date, and here you just ruin it for me?" He smiles, pulling me in for what feels like his strongest hug yet. "Fuck, I love you a lot."

"I love you more," I stick out my tongue at him.

I laugh.

He sticks his back out, in an even more childish way.

"Sure you do," he rolls his eyes. "When do you want to go?"

"U-Um...whenever you want," I scratch the back of my head. "I didn't really plan that far ahead."

He grabs my hand, then yanks me in the direction he's walking, "We can go tomorrow. I actually have a ton of money that I brought to this trip for a reason...I wanted to take you out to the Tokyo Tower."

I blink. I laugh a little bit.

"I wanted to take you out to the Tokyo Tower too," I admit, a sheepish smile on my face. "And I brought a bunch of money on this trip too..."

I see a small smile on his face, "Well, I think I win this time, Shou."

I tilt my head, "What do you mean, you win?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the first one to take the other out on a date, duh," he rolls his eyes playfully, as if it really is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Hey! We still haven't decided who's taking who out!" I reply, embarrassment on my face, probably, if it was like something someone could touch.

"I'm taking you out, unless you want to play videogames over it," he offers, a sneaky tone in his voice.

Heck.

I'm way worse than him at videogames!

"How about volleyball?"

"Shou, how would that even work?"

Uh.

Duh.

He's right.

"Sunshine," he stops, kissing me on the cheek. "Could I be the one to take you out, please?" He looks at me with wide eyes, and I see the hope so far in there. He really does want to be the one to take me out.

I pout.

He continues looking, staring intently. There's a light smile on his face, and his gaze isn't even intense. It's warm. Welcoming.

I hug him tight, "Fine, but I'm going to beat you in any game you want, anyways."

"Rhythm games?"

"Other than that."

He chuckles. As we walk back to actually have dinner, I realize something.

"Do you think they've realized that we're not in there?" I wonder out loud, and Kenma probably just got the realization too.

He clicks his tongue, "I think Kuroo might have noticed, but I doubt it. Especially since he was planning this all along."

"He was?" I ask, surprise clear in my voice.

"Yep. I could tell when he showed me that he and Bokuto called."

"What does that mean?" I ask, grabbing his hand again. This time, our fingers are intertwined rather than him just clasping onto my hand.

"Oh, Kuroo tried to throw me off his trail by showing me a call that he and Bokuto had. He wouldn't be lying to me if he just showed me the entire call, but he knew the exact moment it happened. It was pretty clear that he was planning something, especially when Oikawa came into the room."

I blink, "What about Nishinoya-Senpai and Tanaka-Senpai? Were they in on it?" I ask, even more confused than before. Kenma knew? Why didn't he interrupt?

"Nope. I just let it run on because Kuroo actually gave me some money to take you out on a date," he smiles, and it's a very crafty smile. "This way, I don't even have to spend some of the money myself. I whined a little bit about how much money I brought, and instead, Kuroo said that he'd cover all the expenses."

I giggle at that, "Oh my gosh, Kitty!"

"Hey," he softly smiles again, a glint in his eye. "Anything for the love of my life."

U-Uh.

Uh!

UMM!

"I-I love you too!" I stutter out, and I can feel the heat in my cheeks.

He kisses me on the temple, and insists, "God, Shou, you're way too adorable sometimes."

"But that's you!" I argue.

"Nope."

"Do I need to bring up the tickle fight?"

"That doesn't count," he calmly says, shutting me down.

"I'll take away your games if the tickle fight doesn't count!" I counter, smirking.

He has just a big a smirk on his face as he rolls his eyes, "You wouldn't too that to me. You're too short to reach."

"Kitty!"

He kisses me, quick and soft, on the lips.

"Love you too, Shou."

I sigh, leaning a little into him as I lean my head on his shoulder.

As we walk, it's a little tough, but when we get to the dining room, he admits absentmindedly, "I can't wait to go out with you, Shou."

"And I can't wait to be taken out on a date, Kitty!"

~~~

_ (While Kenma and Hinata finish up dinner) _

_ "WE'RE HIS FAVORITE! RIG-- Wait, where's Shouyou?" _

_ "Hold on! Where's Kenma?!" _

_ "Oh my god, Kuroo, I was trying to tell you that Kenma and Shrimpy already ditched but you wouldn't shut up about how I messed everything up!" _

_ "I told you guys that Hinata shoulda listened to me. I'm his teacher, and one of the top aces. I'd clearly be a better teacher romantically." _

_ "THAT DOESN'T MATTER IF NEITHER OF THEM ARE HERE, DOES IT?!" _

_ "God, I shouldn't have even tried to plan out their date for them, should've I..." _

_ "No. No you shouldn't've, Kuroo." _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Date happens next chapter!


	5. Ditzy Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A date goes wack, emotions are spilled, Kenma goes gwah, and Hinata says some stupid stuff that he doesn't remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This chapter's probably going to suck, cause in reality, I have no clue how to write the progression of a date as I suck at dating!
> 
> Enjoy!

"Gotta say...that was mean," Kuroo muttered to Kenma as he put on his shoes. Kenma, Hinata, and Kuroo were the only ones still in the Nekoma team room.

"Huh?" Kenma turned his head around, putting on his team jersey while Hinata put on his. "What are you talking about?"

"Just leaving like that while everyone else argued," Kuroo sighed, standing up as he finished preparations. "You could've at least told someone that you two were leaving."

Hinata piped up, "But that would've meant that you guys just forced up to stay in the gym to support you guys...Kenma doesn't like all that noise, and I didn't want him to be uncomfortable."

Kuroo gulped. He wanted to hold some sort of saltiness or grudge towards either of the two boys, but no matter what way he looked at it, he sort of brought it upon himself to handle the situation.

He knew that the three of them were in it for their own reasons, but his were the most selfish. While he did want Kenma to be happy, he was mainly doing it to remain entertained.

The two of them? God, neither of them were even aware of how much they were trying to have their date be the one to enjoy it the most. It was almost sickening how in love they could be, at least to Kuroo.

"God, you two make it too hard to be angry at either of you," Kuroo sighed, his shoulders untensing. It was a weird thing to say, given how obvious it was to everyone else. It was well-known that Hinata was practically impossible to hate, even from someone as salty as Tsukishima or potentially Oikawa. Anyone who had come to know who Hinata was, even for a moment, outside of games, were practically sucked in. He was too friendly, and he couldn't hate a soul.

And for Kenma? Nobody could bring themselves to hate the shy boy. They knew pretty well, first off, that he was in a relationship with the resident ball of sunshine. Secondly, he never did anything that could make anyone angry. Other than making some good decisions during the game by catching the enemy off guard, they had to admit that his strategies were solid, made without considering emotions. It was just the tactical decision.

"And you make it too easy to get angry at you," Kenma smirked, not holding back his words. Of course, it was only banter between the two of them. Given how long they knew each other, it would be a shame if Kenma couldn't let loose on him from time to time, even if his few words that he did say were nothing compared to what he had thought of.

"So, when are you two going to go? There isn't too much time left for the training camp, and I doubt they'll just let you leave in the middle of practice."

"Oh, that's easy! I got Sawamura-San's permission to go as long as we leave by 7 and come back by midnight!" Hinata chirped, finally ready. He couldn't wait to keep playing volleyball.

"Why those times?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow.

"He figured that he wanted us to have a good amount of time to be together while not putting ourselves at risk at late night. Of course, he offered to give us some money, but you already gave us a bunch," Kenma explained, sighing. 

He wasn't looking forward at all to setting to Lev. He actually thought about the possibility of purposely not spiking to him at any given moment, or purposely not synchronizing him just to get back at all those times he annoyed him.

Or the time with the cat.

Either one.

~~~

A bounce.

Another bounce.

Tapping.

Humming.

Shaking.

Of course, the shaking wasn't out of some sort of fear or anxiousness.

I knew pretty well why I could notice all of that stuff.

It was just cause I was doing it too, even though it wasn't as...obvious, I hope. It was probably pretty clear, though. I barely even move. He does, all the time.

I just...see Shou barely able to contain himself as he goes to spike. It's the last game of the day, and guess who happened to pair us up?

Sawamura-San.

Apparently, he'd made the schedule a day ago. It was more than enough time for Kuroo to try to gain a hollow victory over me by just putting Shou out just on the other side of the next to sort of tease me.

So, here I was, at the end of the game, reminding myself once again not to set to Lev. Instead, I choose to set to Yamamoto-San, since he's far more capable.

"Hey, Shou?" I speak to him from the other side of the net as the ball starts to fall on their side. He's too far to save it, and it's up to Kageyama and Asahi.

They're too far, as well.

"Enjoy your hill sprints," I gently smile at him as he pouts at me.

"You don't have to rub it in, Kenma..." he sulks as he walks over to where the rest of the team is gathering. Turns out, they seem to have some sort of twisted pride when it comes to doing these drills.

"Hey, what's the record right now?" Kuroo asks, loudly enough for Karasuno to hear it. "Wow, Karasuno with four wins and 65 losses? That's amazing! They must love doing penalties!"

I hear mumbles and grunts from Karasuno, other than Shou, who actually seems excited at the prospect of doing the sprint.

"I'm going to beat you this time, Bakageyama!" He declares proudly, sticking his tongue out at Kageyama.

The claw.

Karasuno told me about it, but I didn't think it was actually a thing. Apparently the first time it happened was during Karasuno's first practice game with Aoba Johsai, but I could be wrong.

"So, practice is over for the day..." Lev sighs, before gaining a glint in his eye. "Kenma-san! Can you set for me for a bit?!"

"Nope," I shut him down as fast as I can, before glancing at Kuroo. He's got that smug look on his face. I smirk a little bit.

"But why, Kenma-san?! You set for Hinata all the time!" He complains. I blink. Other than that one time I offered yesterday, which I didn't even actually set to him, I have never set for Hinata.

"That's bull and you know it, Lev," I narrow my eyes a little. "Don't bring him into this just cause you keep asking me."

"But I want to get better!" He whines, and I know how to transition from here.

"Hey, Kuroo!" I call out to him, my voice a bit louder than usual to emphasize that it's only Kuroo.

"Huh? Whatcha need, Kenma?" He croons. "Something happening?"

"Lev, you wanted to get better, right? Well, Kuroo's got a bunch of stuff that he can definitely teach you. Why not ask him to teach you some stuff?" I suggest, waving my hand dismissively. I glance at Kuroo, making eye contact, and I can feel the betrayal in his eyes. I smirk.

Well played. I can see the message deep within his eyes.

"Checkmate," I mutter to myself, as Lev starts clinging to Kuroo. I still have to wait a few minutes, though, since practice technically isn't over yet.

I start bouncing my leg to help relieve my excitement, and try to play on my phone a little bit to distract myself. It doesn't work too well, even with the music I'm listening to with my headphones.

After a minute or two, I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Yaku.

"Oh. Hi, Yaku-san. Do you need anything?" I ask quietly. Yaku was always really kind to me, and seemed really understanding.

"Jeez, Hinata must be really lucky," Yaku observes. "To have someone like you with him. You two are pretty different, but you complement each other well."

"T-Thanks," I stutter, a light blush coming onto my face.

"You're happy with him, right?" Yaku asks absentmindedly, his eyes on the entire Karasuno team. I nod.

"That's good."

I blink, looking up a little bit at him. I'm glad Yaku's on the team, honestly. Other than when he gets annoyed at Lev, I think he's the calmest member on our team. Surprisingly, I think Inuoka's also pretty calm, though he does get pretty excitable at times.

"Kenma?"

"Yeah?"

"Just head over to him. I'll tell coach."

I blink, nodding to him, gratefully.

He ruffles my head, which I would normally dislike, but from Yaku, it's somewhat comforting, like a parental sort of thing.

"Have fun."

As I quickly get up, bringing my stuff with me, I walk my things over to where Karasuno is and quickly sit myself down next to Shou.

"Hi," I greet Karasuno, bowing a little bit before turning over to Shouyou. As expected, he tackles me in a hug.

This time, I'm not prepared, and both of us are sent to the floor laughing a little bit.

"Hi!" He giggles, hugging me close. He turns to Sawamura-San and Coach Ukai, and they both roll their eyes with a light smile as they nod. They wave him off dismissively, and Sawamura-San walks up to us.

"You two can go on your date," Sawamura nods. "But if Hinata comes back with a single scratch on him, I will ensure Kuroo gets Lev to train with you for a few days."

I blink, gulping.

That was worse a punishment than being separated from Shou for a few days. Then again, considering how we had maintained a long-distance relationship, I'm not really surprised he knew we'd be able to handle it well.

"Hey! Lev's awesome!" Shou denies, insisting that Lev is pretty cool. "He's really nice and cool and light-hearted! He's just like me!"

"Yeah, but you don't have to practice with him as his setter when he's never consistent," I sigh, groaning a little bit.

"But Kitty, Lev's really awesome as a person!"

"We had to reach for a cat one time, failed to get the cat, and then he dropped me on my back," I deadpan, remembering the injury.

Shou pouts, "I'm not gonna be able to change your mind, am I..."

"Not in the slightest, Shou. Besides, you two are at similar skill levels; you both suck."

He scoffs, indignant and embarrassed, "I don't suck! Right, Kageyama?!"

"You can jump. That's about it," Kageyama answers absentmindedly. Hinata gapes, his heart likely dropping.

He pouts again, "Not a word."

I kiss his temple, "Love you too, Shou."

He snickers a little bit, whispering to me, "I'm going to tickle you later if you keep this up."

I smirk, whispering back, "I promise I'll make it up to you, Sunshine." My tone's crisp, furtive, sly. I can tell by his shudder that he doesn't know what to expect, but I can tell that he hopes it involves a bunch of cuddles and hugs.

It does.

Also tickles.

~~~

"Have fun on your date!" Yachi and Yamaguchi say as they wave me and Kenma off, the two of us walking to the nearest street that we can find.

"Wow!" I breathlessly whisper, seeing all the cars and lights and buildings around me. "How do you find your way around here?!" I grab his hand excitedly, shaking it a little bit as I point to some of the cool signs I see.

He mutters coolly, "'I've lived here all my life. It's not too hard to find your way around."

"Oh, you want to impress me, huh?!" I giggle, pulling him along with me. He blushes. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Shush," he smiles lightly, catching up. "Do you want to go to the Tokyo Tower first or just look around for a bit? I brought money for dinner, the Tokyo Tower, and a few other things you might want to buy."

I pout, "But I brought money too! You don't have to buy me everything!"

"But I want to," he shrugs, squeezing a little bit...I think it makes him a bit calmer, kissing my temple and squeezing my hand sometimes.

"We can go anywhere you want, Shou," he answers, a little bit of satisfaction on his face.

He looks away for a bit, scratching the back of his neck before taking a few deep breaths.

I lean my head on his shoulder, "I...I can't believe it. I'm actually on a date with you." There's a goofy smile on my face, and I can't care. He squeezes my hand a little bit more, and I can tell he feels the same.

I glance down at our hands. Instead of holding it like we do when we cuddle, he's just keeping his pinky with mine. I smile lightly, knowing that he's doing what he's comfortable with.

"Hey, Kitty?" I ask.

He hums.

"Do you want me to take my head off? If you're uncomfortable, I can wait till later."

There's a moment of silence. He blushes a little bit.

"N-No, it's fine," he admits. There's a little bit of a smile. "Thank you for asking, though...I'm not really good at dating and P.D.A, you know?"

"Hey, you're way better at dating than I am!" I deny, before realizing what he said to me. I tilt my head, "What's P.D.A?" Power...display...amazing? Pass...Dig...Ace?

"Public Displays of Affection," he explains. "Hugging, kissing, just any sort of romantic stuff in public. That's...kind of why I'm just holding your pinky. It's sort of different during practice, though, since we know everyone there."

I deflate a little bit, "Oh...so no hugs? I know that I hug you a lot during practice."

He opens his mouth, then closes it again. I can tell he's thinking about it.

"Please don't stop hugging me," he insists, completely serious. "Main exception."

"So...what if I were to stop hugging you during practice?" I tease, squeezing his pinky a bit to emphasize my point. "You kinda sounded like you were begging me to keep hugging you."

"Then I'll come to wherever you are during each and every water break, like you do, and hug you," he casually answers. " Hell, I might tackle you to the ground like you do to me. Your hugs are the most precious things on Earth."

"Aww!" I giggle, even though I'm blushing. "You're so cute, Kitty!" I poke his cheek with my free hand, and he crinkles his face up. I can tell that he's not annoyed by it, though, since he can't hide the slight upturn at the ends of his lips.

He rolls his eyes, smiling, "You're pretty cute too, Shou. Do you wanna get some dinner before we go to the Tokyo Tower?"

"Sure!" I chirp. "Ooh, is there somewhere with Tamago Kake Gohan or some sort of Meat Buns?!" I hop a little bit, nearly drooling at the thought of some Tokyo professional food! I don't even know what other foods they might have here!

He grins at me, to the point where I can see his teeth a little bit (That was super rare! I can get Kenma to smile sometimes, which gets Kuroo jealous sometimes because he's known Kenma way longer, but it's almost never where he smiles that widely!), "Absolutely, Shou. I know a pretty good place that has pretty good food. Do you want to eat in or eat while we walk to the Tokyo Tower?"

"Walking to the Tokyo Tower!" I chirp again, answering almost instantly. " I wanna get there so we can see the stars soon! It's sunset, too, and that'd be amazing!"

I hear him mumble something to himself, a bit amused at his own thought.

I tilt my head, "You say something, Kitty?"

He gulps, noticing that I heard him, "N-Nope."

"You're not a great liar, are you?" I tease, poking his cheek again. "What did you say?"

"U-Uh~" He squeaks, and this is one of the times he's most embarrassed that I've ever seen him. "I-It's nothing."

"C'moooon~" I urge, using a sort of sing-song voice. "Tell me or no hugs~"

He pouts a little bit, "I...I just thought that seeing you smile at the stars would be way more amazing..." He pulls his hood over his head, hiding his face a little bit.

I smile, taking his hand in mine this time rather than just our pinkies. He doesn't tense up. In fact, he seems to embrace it as he's the one who takes it a step further by intertwining our fingers.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

~~~

"Uh, Shou, shouldn't you get a napkin?" Kenma asked, a little weirded out at how quickly his boyfriend was to grab the literally still-steaming meat bun. 

"It's fine!" Hinata answers, even though his voice is strained. Kenma sighs; he's used to this stuff from the time they ate pizza when Hinata was still sick, though before Kenma had gotten sick himself.

Kenma's answer was simple: "Nope." Quickly handing him a napkin, Hinata cried out a little in pain, shaking and blowing on his hand to make it feel better.

"Ow! A boo-boo!" Hinata whimpered, causing Kenma to laugh a bit. "Hey! I thought you'd be worried about me!"

"I'd be more worried if I didn't know that you didn't hurt yourself badly and that you were the one who did it," he answered sweetly, taking a soft bite of his meat bun while the two walked down the street.

Despite how...less than welcoming Kenma thought Japan could be when it came to two boys dating each other, it seemed that it was mainly the older demographic who had these views, and even then, those thoughts were few and far between.

"That's not nice. Why are you saying it so nicely?" Hinata whined, pouting a little bit.

"Cause you're cute."

"Th-That doesn't even make sense!"

"I know."

Hinata pouted again.

And of course, Kenma found it adorable. To him, he couldn't find a way where he couldn't find Hinata pouting to be adorable.

"You know...I never thought I'd ever take someone out to the Tokyo Tower," Kenma admitted shyly. "I just thought that I'd go here once or twice with my family and that'd be it. You know?"

Hinata laughed it off, "I guess that makes a bit of sense. I thought that the only person I'd really want to show the stars in Miyagi were my sister when she was even younger, because she loved the little lights."

"And now...I guess my sort of reality was sort of turned upside down by you, Shou," Kenma shrugged, trying to appear casual even though his heart was racing as the two of them walked up to the ticket counter.

"Two tickets for the Top Deck Tour," Hinata requested kindly, a bright smile on his face as he grabbed some money from his pocket.

As much as Kenma wanted to pay, he didn't like talking to people older than him who were employees, so he eventually gave in and let Hinata pay for the tickets. He'd pay for everything else, though. He insisted on it.

"You know, I thought of taking you out to the Skytree, but I wanna save that for a later day," Hinata admitted. "I don't know when, though."

"Wow. Great spoiler there," Kenma laughed a little bit. "Now I know to watch out whenever we go to the Skytree."

"Uh, would you mind finishing your food before you two go to the upper deck?" The employee requested timidly, holding up a finger that was slightly shaking. Her hair was well-kept, and it was clear she cared. She just didn't want to cause any conflict, which was something Kenma knew all about.

Surprisingly enough, Kenma was the first one who'd finished his food. He just took his time, ate like he always did, and just kept strolling right along. He was used to the sight of Tokyo, so he didn't really pay too much attention to everything going on around him. His focus was just on Hinata.

Speaking of the shorter teen, he was as energetic as could be. That's sort of why he finished his food second. He couldn't stop talking, ranting about how beautiful the city was to him. The lights, the signs, the neon flashes, the way the city hustled and bustled around him. It was perfect for someone who was as lively as Hinata.

"Would you like me to give you a tour or would you prefer to simply look around the city from the highest point we can show you on the tower?" The employee requested. Shyly, Kenma tugged on Hinata's sleeve, who was about to talk.

At the tug, Hinata turned silent.

"Is it okay if we just walk around the top?" Kenma gulped, his voice nearly silent. "The two of us are on a date..."

Instantly, the lady perked up, "Oh, of course!" She handed the two of them their tickets. "Just step into that elevator and I'll let them know your situation!"

"Thank you!" Hinata called out to the young lady, who waved them off lightly with a smile. "Wow, Kitty, didn't think you'd just tell them we're on a date."

"I didn't know what else to say," he admitted, holding on to Hinata. He always liked having something to hold on to while he was in public. It helped him feel grounded.

"Hey, Shou?" Kenma whispered as the two of them walked into the elevator.

"Yeah?"

"You're..." Kenma started, but refrained from finishing his sentence.

"Huh?"

"I'll tell you later," Kenma cut himself off, smiling a little bit to himself.

"If you say so..."

~~~

"Wow!" Shou smiles brightly, instantly captured by the sight of the city from how high up we are. "Thank you for taking me, Kitty!" He hops up and down the moment we get out of the elevator, and for the first time of my life, I think I choose to move faster without being urged to.

As Shou instantly goes to the window, he doesn't bother to grab my hand, and that's okay. I offered to take him here so he could see the Tokyo Tower, after all.

I walk up to him, faster than I normally would. Yeah, that's still a bit weird to me, but not unwelcome.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" I ask, glancing out at the buildings. There's some pretty bright lights where we are right now, but we can still see everything going on outside without a single bit of interference.

All he does is nod.

I laugh a little bit, "You know how Oikawa and Kuroo tried to give me some dating advice?"

Shou doesn't tear his eyes away from the city, as his eyes greedily drink the sight of the buildings and how high we really are, but he does nod.

I take that as a sign to keep going, walking up a bit closer to the window, "Kuroo and Oikawa told me the literal opposite things. Kuroo said that I should take you away from the sights, which is dumb, and Oikawa told me to let you run off and separate myself from you, essentially, which is also somewhat dumb."

Shou smiles at that, still looking.

Luckily, there's a few seats for the two of us to take that are pretty close to the window, so we can still enjoy the sights.

As we plop down onto the seats, Shou laughs a little bit, "That sort of happened with me, because Bokuto-san tried to encourage me to act a bit differently so that you'd be comfortable on the date, while Nishinoya-Senpai and Tanaka-Senpai told me to enjoy the sights and just be myself completely so that you'd feel like you did good."

I blink.

"By the way?" Shou grins brightly again, and I feel my heart skip a beat, practically. "This is an amazing first date, Kitty. Thank you!" He pulls me in for a hug, and I smile. There's nobody really paying attention to us right now, all taking in and enjoying their own experience here.

That's nice.

"You know...I'm sort of glad that they tried to give us advice...because in the end, it failed so amazingly that it just went perfectly," Shou laughs, and I can't help but laugh a little bit. His laugh's somewhat infectious.

"Hey, Shou?" I offer up another subject to talk about. "Is it okay if we just sort of...make a little bit of small talk?"

He nods.

I wonder how he'll react. Would he actually react like Kuroo said he would?

"You know how I got another game?" I start, and I see Shou nod. I lean my head onto his shoulder, and he wraps an arm around my waist, gently pulling me closer to him.

"Well, it's called Cyberpunk 2077, and apparently there's this pretty cool character modeled after a really famous American actor," I explain. "I actually haven't played it yet, but it's an open-world RPG."

"Like the weapon?" Shou curiously asks, and I'm glad he's paying attention.

"No, it stands for role-playing game. It's like...where you get to play out the role of a character in a world...you can make some decisions on your own, customize your character, and just sort of watch the story unfold as you play," I answer.

"Wow! That sounds super cool!" He grins, seeming genuinely interested. "Does that mean you get to choose a character?"

"Well, not necessarily. In the game, you get to make your own character, I think. The character fits the same role as any customization, but you get to choose how they look, their height, all that stuff."

He seems to have stars in his eyes, excited as he smiles even brighter, "Sweet! So you get to make your character look super cool and stuff!" I nod at his interpretation of my explanation.

"I'm thinking of playing it soon...it's a single-player game, so only one person can play in your save," I shrug, but an idea pops in my head. "Unless you wanna play with me? Or at least watch me play? I could probably come over sometime and play it with you."

He flashes the biggest grin of tonight, super excited, "That'd be awesome! Can you, please?!" I nod, again.

"Anything for you, Shou," I blush a little bit, brushing some hair out of my face. "You're...you, after all.."

"Huh?" He tilts his head. I gulp.

Here's the thing. I couldn't really sleep last night. I know, I know. Weird. Especially since I was cuddling with Shou and all that.

But that's exactly why I couldn't sleep. Last night, I knew I was going to be going on a date with him, and I wanted to make it perfect.

That's why I thought up this whole romantic spiel that I wanted to tell him...I wanted to really spill my emotions to him...and the thing is? I suck at expressing my emotions properly, without sort of going overboard.

I don't know how to transition from videogames to this sort of romantic spiel.

So I just jump right into it.

"Shou?"

"Yeah?"

"You know...you're just...so perfect to me," I admit. "You're cute, passionate, loving, caring, and just...so amazing, and frankly, I don't know what I did to deserve you.

I take a deep breath, gently cupping his cheek and looking him in the eye, tearing his attention completely to me, "I...I love you, Hinata. More than I could ever tell you. You make me feel...proud to be here. You make me want to enjoy volleyball more. To improve myself, because I sort of want to keep up with you, you know?"

I barely realize how shaky my voice is until I see a tear roll down his cheek, and I softly smile.

"You make me feel...super gwah and my heart just goes...super pow and swoosh whenever I see you, Sunshine...and whenever we hug, I feel like I can fly and when you hold me tight, my head and body just feel...all buzzy and gwauf...and when we kiss, I feel really...fwomp..." I avert my gaze from him, barely even knowing what I'm saying anymore. "I...I just...I want to make this date perfect because...you make me feel so amazing...and I want to return the favor, you know?"

He whispers something to me. It's instinct. I can tell. He doesn't think, he just says it out of nowhere. But I can feel that he means it.

"I think I wanna marry you."

W-What?!

Honestly, the rest of the night was a blur to me, because I couldn't help but give into the raw emotion that he just spilled to me there. 

What was I supposed to say?!

U-Uhm?!

UH?!

I-I mean, I wanna marry him too (right? right! i actually like thought about this for like four hours on end one night and came to the conclusion that the answer is yes), someday, but how can he just say it so casually?!

Gwah!

~~~

Okay, I'll admit, after Kenma did that whole romantic thing (which was perfect! I never thought I could actually get him to express feelings like that, but it was so cute!), my mind just went blank. Next thing you know, I said some stuff to him that I don't even remember, he gets all romantic and flirty, and now we're going to the gym because he wants to kiss me a bit more.

I practically tug Kenma back into the gym, because I know nobody's there at this time. It's never locked, because some of the students like to go in there before practice starts so they can warm up and whatever.

As the gym door closes on us, I hug him. I hug him tight, like I'm never going to let him go.

"That was...a perfect first date, Kenma."

He...he kisses me on the forehead before muttering to me softly, "You were the one who told me that you wanted to kiss me. So aren't you going to do it or something?"

"You sound really impatient," I giggle, gently pulling him close. I wrap my arm around his waist, making sure to stare into his eyes. "What was it that you said? When we kiss, you feel fwomp?"

He blushes, poking me on the chest, "Hey, you were the inspiration for that, Shou. That's what you sound to everyone else."

"Are you really going to drag this out, Kenma?" I smirk, gently walking forward. He raises his eyebrow, but follows me along. "You were the one who insisted that we get back to the gym before we do anything."

"I-I thought we were just g-gonna cuddle!" He squeaks, eventually realizing that I pinned him against the wall.

"Oh, come on," I drawl. "You wanted to hug me, didn't you?"

He blushes, before nodding hesitantly.

"Well, I'm right here. We have an hour or two before we really have to sleep, right?"

He tackles me in a hug, pushing me down to the ground, and I land with an 'oof.'

"Hey, I told you that if you weren't gonna do anything, that I'd do it instead, right?" He laughs. I laugh along with him, before he moves a bit higher.

He gently rests his forehead on mine, his hair falling to the point where it sort of cascades over me. He's all that I see.

And Jesus Christ, he's beautiful. He's so cute, and sweet, and kind, and shy. His eyes are just so cute, and I wanna stare in them longer. Is that creepy to say? Thinking of it, it's pretty creepy, but I can't word it better!

It's weird!

Usually, I'm the one who's super active and pushy and he's the shy one!

But when we're alone, it's like he just takes all my energy from me and I can't do anything! All that stuff I was doing to try to flirt with him? I was just stalling because I couldn't push myself to really do it!

"Thanks, Shou, for the awesome date. I haven't laughed so much in a while," he mutters as he presses his lips onto my bottom lip.

"You're a clutz, Kitty," I mutter, as he rests his body on top of mine. Our legs are tangled together, and I'm certain that's sort of because he doesn't want me to move. I don't even think I could move on my own, even if I wanted to.

"Love you too," is the last thing he says before he crushes his lips onto mine.

...

We're a weird couple.

But this?

I understand why his heart goes fwomp whenever we kiss.

Because mine does too.

And I wouldn't give this up for the world.

And hey, maybe we got a bit physical. We didn't do anything...lewd. Just kissed a bit, cuddled a bit in the gym, and played a few games on his phone.

To me? It was the perfect ending to our date.

We don't need fireworks, or a Tokyo Tower, or even a Skytree to celebrate the moment.

I think for me, just being there with him was perfect.

I'm going to have to make my own romantic spilly feeling thing, aren't I? He said all that stuff, so I should probably come up with something to like respond to that, right?

Probably.

~~~

_ "That was a perfect first date, Kenma." _

_ A few snickers were heard from outside, even though neither of the boys could hear it. _

_ There were a few mumbles that they couldn't hear, especially since the door was shut, but the next thing they heard was more than enough. _

"Are you sure you're recording this?"

"Absolutely."

_ "I-I thought we were just g-gonna cuddle!" _

"Yeah, they're probably gonna do a lot more than just cuddle, if you know what I mean."

"Kuroo-san!"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And boom, story done!
> 
> So, I gotta say, this just sort of jumped all over the place.
> 
> I kind of wanted it to go like that, where it felt like it was just a collection of moments that the two of them had while on their date, but I also tried to infuse an actual progression of the date and how they felt, you know?
> 
> So, I got like two ideas, but I don't know which one to choose first.
> 
> First one is that Kenma and Hinata get the talk after Kuroo hears some stuff and decides to tell Daichi about it, genuinely worried instead of plotting.
> 
> Second one is where Hinata decides to go to Brazil and him and Kenma talk about how to work together with their varying professions.
> 
> Which one should I choose?
> 
> Or should I just revise this chapter? (I'm writing this a/n at like 11 p.m and I am somehow a morning person so yeah this note is running on fumes but i promise the chapter was written when i was energized)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Stay safe, take care, and have a wonderful day!


End file.
